Chapter 8
The lizardmen, shoulders slumping in fatigue, heaved a sigh of relief after finishing off the undead beasts. Despite hearts pained with sorrow, they wore faint smiles.
It was true that more than a few of them had been injured or killed, but they were lucky that was all. If the swamp elementals hadn't joined the battle or if they had showed up a little bit later, the line would have broken and everything probably would have fallen apart.
"Let's go." It was the voice of one of the head warriors announcing the next round.
Everyone's bodies were heavy with exhaustion. They could barely hold their weapons and swinging them was a chore, but the fight wasn't over yet. The zombies were a ways away, but the warriors still had to mop them up, and they had to stay on the lookout after that.
"Okay, carry the heavily injured to the village. Everyone else, follow—" His command was interrupted by a blaze of hellfire.
The heat wave pummeled the area, and at the center of the flames, the two elementals reeled. The flames vanished as if they had never existed, and the elementals were in shambles. With just one attack, they were half-destroyed. The second round of flames leaped up before the lizardmen had time to cry out in shock. Unable to withstand it, the bodies of the elementals collapsed and melted away inside the fire.
The lizardmen were unable to wrap their heads around the sudden annihilation of elementals that had been so effective against the undead beasts.
"What happened?
Despite acknowledging that the swamp elementals had been wiped out, they desperately refused to understand it. This meant that something even more powerful than two swamp elementals had arrived.
The lizardmen scanned the area with naked confusion and fear. The moment they laid eyes on the lone undead in the distance, it loosed another magical attack from its hand.
The fireball, about as big as a human's head, followed a straight path through the air and crashed into the lizardmen on the front lines.
Usually, throwing water on fire would put it out. But phenomena brought about by the laws of magic, even such everyday phenomena, were different. The moment the fireball hit the water, the area went up in flames as if the swamp were a hard floor.
The expanding conflagration engulfed several lizardmen and disappeared like
an illusion: the flames vanished abruptly enough to make them doubt their sight. But the smell of burned flesh hanging in the air and the crumpled forms of lizardmen on the ground were no illusions.
The undead advanced slowly. His manner was so elegant that it seemed to overflow with arrogance. It was the gait of one who was confident in his power.
Should we make a decisive charge like we did against the skeleton archers? While the lizardmen mulled it over, another fireball went flying.
It exploded, and the lives of the lizardmen in the area of effect were snuffed out instantaneously.
This was truly overwhelming power; it was as if everything up until now had been a game.
"Yaaaagh!" A war cry went up, an attempt to shake off the fear. The moment several lizardmen prepared to charge, an icy voice echoed out.
"Fools!" Just a single word. The fireball burned up its victims before they could even cry out.
The undead swayed and several hundred lizardmen took a step back, forced by the wall that was the difference between their strength and the truly powerful.
"Let's get out of here!" someone, one of the head warriors, shouted in a quavering voice. "This enemy's different from the others! We don't stand a chance!"
Obviously. It was coming at them on its own. The lizardmen could feel the pressure, like an overwhelming wind, on their skin.
"You guys go back and report to the chiefs and Zaryusu!"
"We'll buy you time!"
A fireball burst and a few lizardmen fell.
"Run! run and tell them!"
The five head warriors let the others retreat to the village and judged the distance between them and the enemy, figuring in the area of effect of the exploding fireballs. Basically, they wanted at least one of them to reach the enemy. They would face death for this objective.
They exchanged looks from their spaced-out positions and set off sprinting.
The distance was around 100 m. A hundred despair-inducing meters, but they still advanced. Even if they were defeated on their way, at least they'd leave behind some intelligence for Zaryusu and the chiefs who were surely watching behind them.
The lizardmen who had pressed forward now ran home, scattering like baby spiders.
Zaryusu watched calmly what they were running away from. No, he'd been paying attention ever since the immensely powerful enemy had appeared, the undead that sowed fiery death. Its movements were different from the unintelligent enemies they'd faced so far. This was probably the commander.
When it had reached an estimated 100 m from the lizardmen, it intercepted them with fireball area-of-effect attacks and the head warriors who had attempted a five-pronged charge were all burned to death on their way.
"It looks like we're up." Zaryusu nodded at Zenbel, and Crusch also indicated her agreement. Now they might be the ones to die, but they had to throw themselves into the fray.
"Yeah, no doubt about it, this is where we come in. That kind of power… There's a very good chance this is the Great One's right-hand man, the commander of this army. Even if it's not, it must be their trump card."
"Yeah. There's no way they'd be able to control multiple undead of that strength. But how should we approach it? It's too far away."
Zaryusu racked his brain to answer Crusch's question. They weren't fighting to die, so they needed a plan. Zaryusu and Zenbel couldn't fight at a distance and the enemy was too strong for Crush alone. They had to fight together and to make it a close-quarters fight. The problem was that 100 m.
Certainly they were capable of withstanding a fireball or two. But it would be more than one or two by the time they reached the enemy and the fight would begin in earnest only once they did. It wasn't hard to see that if they faced that inferno head-on in their advance, they'd be overpowered in the end.
"That distance is a real bummer."
"Yeah…it sure is. I never would have thought a hundred meters could feel so far…"
They discussed how to make it all the way to the undead without any injuries, or at least without too many.
"What if we swam under the water?"
"Even with magic, it'd be pretty hard. If only we could use [Invisibility]…"
They could close the gap all at once if they could go invisible and use [Fly, but nobody among the lizardmen was able to cast those spells.
"Then how about making shields and holding those in front of us while we get closer?"
"It will take too long to make shields."
"We could just break some houses, no?" Zenbel smiled wryly, knowing even as he suggested it that his idea was no good. These magical attacks resulted in blistering explosions. Even if they blocked one direction, the heat would find its way around. They didn't have time to build shields that would cover their entire bodies.
"Oh, hmm… That…we could do…"
"What, Zaryusu?" Crusch asked timidly, recoiling slightly.
Zaryusu wondered if she had seen the ruthlessness of his plan on his face, but he couldn't help it. His idea was one he wished he could reject.
"No, I just…found a shield."
Iguvua nodded, content with the present circumstances.
Things were going well. The bloodmeat hulks were still fighting against those three annoying elite lizardmen, but he was advancing on the village with no problems.
The lizardmen had seemed ready to charge a couple of times, but once he showed them his power, they seemed to realize how futile their resistance was. The five-man charge had probably gotten the closest, but even then, 50 m had been their limit.
Iguvua walked silently forward as if he were crossing a deserted wasteland. He didn't drop his guard against the lizardmen, even as he sneered at how weak they were.
There wasn't much distance left between him and the village that was his objective. Upon reaching it, he intended to burn down the buildings with a rapid barrage of flames as he killed all the lizardmen.
But surely the enemy would rather he didn't arrive. Then they need to start counterattacking soon. When he looked toward the village, he saw he was correct.
"Ohh? I see."
He could see a single hydra. It began walking toward him.
If that was their trump card, laying it low with his overwhelming abilities would probably rob the lizardmen of their remaining will to fight. Then it would be even easier for him to destroy the village.
He checked his surroundings once, and up into the sky, to confirm there were no enemies, and then stopped and leisurely waited for the hydra to enter his space.
Right on the verge of being in range, it began to run—yes, at Iguvua.
"Fool. You think you can make it all the way over here with your slow feet?"
"You're nothing but an animal." Sneering, he formed a fireball in his hand and shot it at the hydra.
It flew in a straight line right for its target making a direct hit. Mighty flames of crimson hellfire blazed up, licking the hydra's entire body.
However, though it staggered, its feet didn't stop moving. It kept on running in spite of being engulfed in flames. No, the flames extinguished after a moment, so that must have been an illusion. The hydra's extraordinary willpower only made Iguvua feel like that was what he saw.
Iguvua frowned in displeasure. The creature had withstood one of his attacks. That deeply hurt his pride. It did seem like the hydra had a defensive spell cast on its body to reduce energy damage, but it wasn't a high-level spell that could completely nullify his magic. Hydras have quick-acting healing abilities, but it shouldn't work against fire… Either way, it's a powerful magical beast, it must be overflowing with life force, so I guess it makes sense it could withstand one attack? Iguvua decided, to try and comfort himself. Still, that didn't completely extinguish the flames of his rage. Iguvua was specially created by the Supreme One, Ainz Ooal Gown. Taking his hit without dying was tantamount to insulting his master.
Though inside he seethed with rage, Iguvua turned an ice-cold gaze on the hydra that was earnestly running toward him.
"What a bother. Die." He shot another fireball at the hydra.
Hellfire now roasted the hydra's entire body, and even at this distance, Iguvua had the feeling he could smell burning flesh. He should have injured it enough that it would hesitate to keep coming, even if it didn't die, but…"
"Why don't you stop? Why are you still coming at me?"
Rororo ran. He was gigantic and the terrain was marshy, but he could sprint almost as fast as the lizardmen, making huge splashing noises as he went.
His amber eyes were clouded from the heat and two of his four heads were already limp.
Still, he ran on.
Another fireball came flying and hit him. The fuel inside flared up all at once and the flames licked his body. He felt a throbbing pain as if he was being punched over and over, his eyes dried up, and the hot air burned his lungs.
The ache from his full-body burns and the searing pain from earlier that still hadn't abated warned him: He would die if he took another hit.
Still, he ran.
He ran and ran.
His feet never stopping, one in front of another. Many scales peeled off in the heat and blood erupted as the skin beneath crinkled and curled up. Even then, he never stopped .
If he were a witless beast, he would have naturally turned tail and fled. But Rororo didn't flee.
Yes, Rororo was a magical beast, a hydra. Some magical beasts were smarter than humans, others were no more intelligent than any other animal. Rororo was more like the latter.
It was mysterious, a wonder, that Rororo with his animal brain, on the verge of death, would continue to rush toward Iguvua, who was causing him pain.
In fact, his enemy Iguvua couldn't understand it. He even considered that the beast might have been manipulated by some kind of magic.
But that wasn't it.
No, it was something else.
Something Iguvua couldn't understand.
Rororo, with no more intelligence than an animal, was running for his family.
Rororo didn't know his parents' faces. It wasn't that hydras abandoned their young; babies lived with at least one parent until a certain age, learning the skills to survive in nature. So why hadn't that been the case for Rororo?
It was because he was deformed. Usually hydras were born with eight heads and as they aged, they'd grew more, sometimes as many as twelve. But since Rororo was born with just four, his parents abandoned him and took only his siblings with them.
As a newborn hydra without parents to care for him, regardless of how big he had the potential to grow up to be, in the unforgiving wild it would only be a matter of time before his young life was extinguished… but a male lizardman happened to pass by and pick him up.
That was when Rororo gained a mother, father, and childhood friend all in one.
Through the pain, with his numb mind, Rororo hazily recalled something he was always wondering. Why am I so big? Why do I have all these heads? He thought about this sometimes when he looked at his dad, his family. And he had an idea: Maybe these extra heads will fall off, and I'll grow arms and legs long like grass and I'll look like Dad.
And then what would they do?
Oh. We'll sleep together for the first time in so long. He'd gotten so big that they ended up sleeping in different places. That made him just a little lonely.
Flames filled Rororo's field of vision, blowing his thoughts away, and searing pain pummeled him again. He emitted a feeble cry. There was no longer any place he didn't hurt terribly. A sense of peaceful warmth came from behind him, but it felt so weak to his scorched body.
He endured a pain worse than being bashed by innumerable hammers. It hurt so much, too much; he couldn't think straight.
His legs became frantic, unending spasms signaling him, telling him, begging him to stop. But…
But! Did Rororo stop moving his legs?
No, he did not.
He still advanced. Yes, his speed had slowed to a crawl. The flames burned his flesh, pulled at his muscles. It was impossible to run at his usual pace, even a single step forward was extremely painful.
It hurt to breathe. Just trying to inhale one more gasp of air was difficult. It was possible his lungs were burning.
Still, his feet would not stop.
Now only one of his heads was moving. The others were nothing more than dead weight. In his clouded field of vision, he could make out the undead conjuring another fireball in his hand.
Rororo's instincts screamed at him I will die if this attack connects. But Rororo was not afraid. Forward, forward, he single-mindedly moved forward…
He'd been asked to do this by his mother-father-friend, his all, so there was no way he could stop.
He desperately, staggering slowly, his energy spent, advanced a few more steps, when the undead loosed another crimson fireball through the sky toward him. That would burn up the rest of Rororo's life. It was undeniable.
In other words, death. The end of everything.
Except…
Yes, except that father was here. Would he let this happen? Absurd. Not in a million years.
"Icy Burst!" Zaryusu jumped out from behind Rororo and, running parallel to him, swung Frost Pain at the same time he shouted. A wall of white frost appeared in front of Rororo, as if the air itself had frozen starting from the tip of Zaryusu's sword. It was frigid, a wintry torrent brought forth by Frost Pain.
This was one of the magical sword's abilities, a special move that could be used only three times per day, Icy Burst. It could chill everything in the area and cause massive frost damage.
The wall that Zaryusu whipped up blocked the fireball as if it had physical strength. A jewel of fire and a wall of cold air: logic made it appropriate that these two should clash.
Upon impact, a fierce battle between flame and frost began. The two devoured each other like cannibal snakes of red and white. After an instant of equilibrium, they both faded.
The undead was shocked and visibly panicked. That was the most apt attitude to have after his magic vanished.
There was still some distance between Zaryusu and Iguvua, but they could make out each other's facial expressions and movements now. Rororo's march, desperate and memorable, had brought the three lizardmen this far across the seemingly impossible distance unscathed.
"Rororo…" Zaryusu got choked up for a moment. Of all the countless things that came to mind to say, he chose one that was extremely concise and pure.
"Thank you!"
With that shout, Zaryusu ran forward without turning to look back at Rororo. Crusch and Zenbel followed immediately after. Behind them, a nearly fainting voice replied, like a cheer. For family.
Iguvua's eyes widened. His fireball had been negated. He expressed his disbelief in words: "This can't be!"
He cast a spell again. Of course, it was another Fireball. He didn't want to admit that the one who had erased his spell was the lizardman currently charging his way.
The fireball raced toward the three lizardmen. The one out in front swung his sword and created an icy wall to repel it, and the spells cancelled out. Yes, it was the same thing that had happened before.
"Shoot as many as you want! I'll erase them all!" he heard the lizardman shout.
Iguvua clicked his nonexistent tongue in annoyance. I was created by the Supreme One, Lord Ainz! How can this reptile scum block my magic?! He frantically calmed his mind, seething with rage.
There was an extremely good chance that [Fireball] would not work against them anymore, but the fact that they had approached by hiding behind the hydra meant there had to be some kind of limit on how many times that spell could be used. Maybe every time it consumed some of his health so that as long as he was healed he could use it an infinite amount of times.
How should I deal with this? If possible, I want to find out if what he said is true…
Iguvua could still shoot plenty of fireballs, but he couldn't tell if the lizardman was bluffing or not.
The enemies were less than 40 m apart. Also, as far as he could tell, two of the lizardmen approaching him were warriors. As a caster, he didn't want a close quarters fight.
That was why he couldn't use Fireball. He wasn't foolish enough to try and see how many more they could block under these circumstances. If they had not been behind the hydra and if they weren't so close, he might have tried to find out. But his chances for that had been ruined by that pesky hydra.
"You…damned beast …" Iguvua spat and decided to make his next move. "How about this?"
Luckily for him, everyone just happened to be in a straight line. He pointed a finger at the three rapidly approaching lizardmen. Shocks sparked around it. "Take this! taste my thundering wrath! [Lightning]!" White electricity streaked across space. And then…
Even at a distance, he could see it—the white light coming from Iguvua's hand, Damn, Lightning. Frost Pain's Icy Burst could block chill and fire attacks, but not once Zaryusu had tried using it against Lightning, so he wasn't sure if the sword could block it or not. Should they take the risk? Or was it better to disperse, make themselves less of a target, and limit the number of injuries?
Zaryusu tensed the hand that held Frost Pain. The air felt like it was buzzing with electricity, proof that the shock was on its way.
"Leave this to meee!"
Before Zaryusu could make a decision, Zenbel rushed out in front with a shout. At almost the same time, the spell was cast.
"[Lightning]!"
"Yaaaargh! [Massive Resistance]!"
Right at the moment the lightning flowed into Zenbel's body, he flexed his muscles. As a result, the bolt that normally would have passed through to the others scattered.
[Massive Resistance] was a monk ability. By radiating chi from their entire body for a moment, the user could reduce incoming magic damage.
This was something Zenbel had learned on the journey he took after being defeated by Frost Pain's special attack, Icy Burst, to counterattack it. Whether it was an area-of-effect spell or any other kind, as long as it did damage, this ability would take effect on it.
Cries of surprise went up on both sides, but Crusch and Zaryusu, who believed in their friend, were only mildly surprised. They took advantage of the undead's shock to invade his space.
I see, thought Zaryusu as he ran. If he had used Icy Burst back when they'd been fighting one-on-one, Zenbel probably would have blocked it using this move and defeated him in the opening created. That was why he'd invited him to use it. Accursed bastard! I didn't want to use it because I was afraid it'd be a low blow!
"Ha-ha! This is a cinch!"
Zaryusu's expression softened when he heard Zenbel sounding so confident, but an instant later he was tensed up again as he realized there was a hint of pain mixed into his voice.
If a male as strong as Zenbel wasn't able to bite back the pain, the damage must have been pretty significant. And Zenbel wasn't the type who would agree to the plan of having Rororo run out in front if his move defended him perfectly.
Zaryusu stared ahead. They were only 20 m away. It had been such a long way, but this was all that was left.
As the party pressed in on him, Iguvua concluded that they were powerful opponents. He had to hand it to any ability that could block his magic. Of course he still had other methods of attack, but he had to think about defense at that point.
"A nice sacrifice, most suitable for showing them how mighty I am." Iguvua grinned and cast a spell. "Summon Fourth-Tier Undead."
The marsh belched and four skeletons armed with round shields and scimitars stood up to protect him. They were skeleton warriors, undead so strong they couldn't even be compared to regular skeletons.
There were other undead he could have summoned, but the reason he chose skeletal warriors was to elude the chill attacks. Iguvua and all those new bony skeletons had perfect resistance to chill.
Protected by his bodyguards, Iguvua looked at the party's approach without hiding his contempt. It was the attitude of a champion awaiting contenders. Eventually the distance between them closed.
Just ten meters. That was all that was left. Yes, that was all. Zaryusu made sure the undead wasn't going to attack and looked over his shoulder, back at the distance they'd traveled. Just to run it, a hundred meters was nothing, but this was a no-man's-land with nowhere to hide. Crush to cast defensive spells, Rororo to endure the pain, Frost Pain to block the fireballs, Zenbel to stop the lightning. If any one of those elements had been missing, it would have been impossible. An absolutely uncrossable distance for lizardmen. Now it was gone. The remaining gap could be closed if he reached out his hand. They'd been able to overcome it.
He felt just a little relieved seeing Rororo being healed and carried back by some druids to the lizardman village, then scolded his buoyant heart and glared at the undead.
It was a horrible being. Zaryusu frankly acknowledged that. If he hadn't encountered it in this situation and instead caught sight of it at a distance, he probably would have chosen to run away as fast as he could. Just confronting the thing made his tail stand on end, his instincts told him to flee.
He could see out of the corners of his eyes that Crusch's and Zenbel's tails were also stiff. They must have felt the same as Zaryusu. Yes, they were suppressing their desire to flee in order to stand before the undead.
Zaryusu whapped their backs with his tail.
Startled, they both turned to him.
"We can do it," Zaryusu whispered simply.
"You're right, Zaryusu. We can do it," Crusch answered, rubbing the spot where he'd whacked her with his tail.
"Hmph. It'll be fun!" Zenbel laughed with a cocky look on his face.
Then the three of them advanced across the final stretch.
At a distance of five meters…
Zaryusu and his friends, panting after their sprint, faced off against the undead, who didn't breathe at all. The first to speak was their enemy.
"I am Iguvua, an elder lich in service of the Great One. If you bow your heads, I'll grant you painless deaths."
Zaryusu laughed in spite of himself: he saw that this undead, Iguvua, didn't understand a thing.
There was only one way to reply.
Iguvua waited for their response without showing any displeasure at Zaryusu's smile. He had the elite arrogance of one who knew he was strong, one who was confident he could kill them. That arrogance had allowed them to close the final stretch, so Zaryusu was thankful for it.
"Let's hear your response."
"Heh-heh. You need a response?" Zaryusu held up Frost Pain and tightened his grip. Zenbel put up his fists and got into a peculiar fighting stance. Crusch didn't move in a specific way, but she reached toward the reservoir of magic deep within herself so she would be able to cast at a moment's notice.
"Then here's our response: We refuse!"
Judging that reply sufficiently hostile, the skeleton warriors raised their round shields and brandished their scimitars.
"Then pain-filled deaths it is. Know that you have rejected my final offer of mercy."
"The dead should go back to the world of the dead, Iguvua!"
The decisive battle began.
"Go, Zaryusu!" Zenbel, who had charged faster than anyone, drove his huge arm into a skeleton warrior. Despite the fact that the skeleton warrior used its shield to block, he kept forcing his fist in. A huge dent formed in the shield, and the skeleton warrior backpedaled into another one and lost its balance. Then Zenbel used his tail to attack a different skeleton warrior but missed.
The skeleton warrior line broke, and Zaryusu slipped in through the opening.
"Stop him!"
At Iguvua's order, two skeleton warriors swung their scimitars at Zaryusu.
He could have dodged if he wanted to. He could have also blocked with Frost Pain. But he didn't do either of those things. Evading was, in a way, simply delaying his own actions. He couldn't waste a move with Iguvua right in front of him.
And more than anything…
"Earth Bind!"
Mud whipped and wrapped around the two skeleton warriors. The mud whips stopped them like chains, giving Zaryusu just enough time to get through the gap.
… Crusch was with him.
Zaryusu wasn't fighting alone, so all he had to do was trust in his friends.
She was a good caster, but her magic couldn't stop their movements entirely. Their scimitars did barely graze Zaryusu's body. But what did that matter? He was so exhilarated his brain didn't sense the slight pain.
He sprinted pointing at his target: Iguvua. Even if he would be hit with attack magic, he would power through and reach him. That was how tough his will was.
"Know fear, you fool! [Scare]!"
Zaryusu's field of vision wavered, and unable to comprehend where he was standing, he was assaulted by a vague anxiety, like something in the area was about to attack.
His feet slowed; the psychic spell had shaken him so much that they wouldn't move. His brain was screaming at his feet to go forward, but his heart wouldn't move them.
"Zaryusu! [Lion's Heart]!" At the sound of Crusch's voice, his fear dissipated and his fighting spirit blazed at twice the intensity of before.
Iguvua glared at Crusch in displeasure and jabbed a finger at her. "What an obnoxious witch! [Lightning]!"
White electricity flashed…
"Gyaagh!"
… and Crusch's scream echoed."
"As Zaryusu set off running again, hatred nearly overtook his heart, but he held it back. Certainly hate was a good weapon, but against someone strong, it could be a burden instead. Against a tough opponent, one needed emotions like fire and a mind like ice.
Zaryusu didn't look back.
Iguvua had attacked Crusch, the rear guard. That meant that Zaryusu could close the gap between them during this time. The understanding that was a big mistake appeared on the undead's face. That brought a sneer to Zaryusu's, despite the fact that the female he loved had been injured.
"Tch! Ligh—"
"Too slow!" Zaryusu swung Frost Pain from the side with all his might and hit the hand Iguvua had been extending.
"Guh!"
"You let a warrior get up close, caster! Let me show you that you can't use spells anymore!"
Perhaps it was different for the mages of legend, but in general, if an enemy closed in on a caster, there was a chance their spells would be prevented with an attack.
An immensely powerful monster like Iguvua was no exception.
Zaryusu narrowed his eyes a bit at the feeling traveling down his arm. An odd sensation had lingered when he cut. It meant Iguvua had some kind of weapon resistance.
Still, he wasn't unharmed. Right. If he had some protection, all Zaryusu had to do was deal more damage.
He just had to slice and slice and slice like crazy, that was all.
Of course, that was easier said than done. The saying was nothing new to Zaryusu. As a warrior, he could do only what he was capable of.
"Don't underestimate me, lizardman!"
Three shots of light flew from before Iguvua's face. Zaryusu was startled by the lack of casting motion and instinctively held his sword up as a shield, but the bolts of magic went by it and sent a heavy, dull pain through his body.
This was [Silent Magic: Magic Arrow]. Silent Magic didn't have any preparation that could be hindered, and Magic Arrow was ordinarily impossible to evade. Even Zaryusu couldn't dodge it.
Gritting his teeth, Zaryusu lashed out with Frost Pain.
"Guh! Damn you, lizardman!"
Magic Arrow may have been impossible to evade, but it didn't do a terrible amount of damage, either. It wasn't about to take someone like Zaryusu, who had punished his body to its limits, out of commission.
Another round hammered into him. The pain reverberated at his core. Zaryusu suppressed it and swung his sword.
This back-and-forth repeated a few times. Zaryusu gradually slowed. The ache was leeching the agility from his movements. The difference between him and the undead who knew no pain became obvious.
Both Zaryusu and Iguvua saw it, wearing contrasting expressions.
The strong would win and the weak would lose. That was the natural order of things. If Iguvua and Zaryusu fought, the results would be clear. However, it was also true that if weaker ones combined their powers, together they could equal the strong who was alone.
"Middle Cure Wounds!" At the sound of the voice, Zaryusu's pain disappeared and his energy returned to him.
Iguvua had been feeling confident, but the spell from the rear enraged him, and he shouted, "You damned witch!"
Zaryusu was fighting with comrades he trusted. Crusch, Zenbel. And…
"Rororo…I won't lose!"
"Nonsense! I was created by the Great One! There cannot be any defeat for me, you fools!" Iguvua's eyes blazed with loathing for the three of them.
The reason he hadn't used any summoning magic was that the undead from his last spell were still around. Until they were destroyed, he couldn't summon any more. That was why they played out the same monotonous exchange—Iguvua shooting Silent Magic: Magic Arrow and Zaryusu slicing into Iguvua's flesh. It seemed like the fight would go on forever.
Then the only thing to do was to leave the breakthrough to the ones fighting in the rear. The battle would be decided by whose reinforcements arrived first.
They both knew it.
Crusch pushed through the pain shooting through her body from the lightning and cast Summon Third-Tier Beast. A huge, almost 1.70 m tall crab with a giant right pincer appeared with a loud splash. It showed up as if it had just been sleeping in the swamp, but of course it had been summoned by the spell.
It advanced, stood next to Zenbel, and clobbered a skeleton warrior with its giant pincer.
Zenbel grinned at the unlikely backup. He was happy to have the help, since he was protecting Crusch while under attack from every direction.
"All right! Weird thing, take those two!"
The crab with a snap grasp waved its smaller pincer as if to say, Understood! and turned to the skeleton warriors.
Hmm… We're in this awful situation, but I can't help but notice how similar they are. Although it felt out of place, Crusch smiled, but she wiped that happy expression off her face a moment later. Watching the battle, she struggled to keep her breathing even.
Between the defensive and healing spells on Rororo during their approach and the support spells for Zenbel, she had already cast too much magic. She was even using summoning magic now, so she was completely exhausted and could barely even stand.
She didn't have enough energy to heal her own wounds. She couldn't fight anymore, so she'd made the levelheaded judgment that it would be a waste to heal herself. But if she collapsed now, she'd be anxious for Zenbel and Zaryusu fighting up in front. Blood dribbled out of her mouth. Her oral cavity was injured, and she tried to stay conscious.
"[Middle Cure Wounds]!" She cast a healing spell on Zaryusu, who was fighting at close quarters with Iguvua.
Her legs gave out and her field of vision blurred. Her whole body could sense water around her. Why that was, she couldn't comprehend at first. She didn't notice, but at some point, she had fallen and sunk into the mud.
She realized soon enough and confirmed the lack of new injuries, so she must have just lost consciousness for a second and collapsed. She felt relieved, not just that she was still alive, but that she could still fight. She didn't even try to stand up. No, she didn't have the energy to stand, it would have been a waste.
The backs of Zaryusu and Zenbel floated in her hazy field of vision. They were her comrades, with whom she'd traveled and fought so far, although it was just a short time they'd spent together. Both of them: Zenbel, now matched evenly against the four skeleton warriors with a little help, and Zaryusu, withstanding Iguvua's magic attacks, were covered in wounds.
Crusch desperately steadied her breath and shot spells. "Middle Cure Wounds!" She healed Zenbel. "Middle Cure Wounds!" She healed Zaryusu. "Gah-hack…" She choked in and out.
Something was wrong with her breathing. She inhaled frantically, but it felt like air wasn't entering her lungs. It was probably due to using too much magical energy. Her head was pounding, but still, she forced her eyes to stay open.
How much had they sacrificed so far? After all that, they couldn't be the first to withdraw. Crusch's eyelids seemed about to fall, but she held them open. She knew that if she cast another spell she would risk to die. That did not stop her from casting [Middle Cure Wounds] for the last time.
Zenbel drove his clenched fist into a skeleton warrior's skull. The sensation of creaking resistance turned into one of crushing, and the skeleton warrior was destroyed.
"Twoooo. Gah-haaaagh." He heaved a breath like he was exhaling his exhaustion and scowled at the remaining skeleton warriors. The crab Crusch had summoned was cut down just a moment later, but because it had occupied two of the skeleton warriors, Zenbel had been able to defeat the two others. He'd gotten this far with Crusch's support.
Now there were two left, the ones the crab had been holding off. When he was done with them, he could move on to help Zaryusu against Iguvua.
He flexed his huge arm; it could still move. His left one was covered in injuries and he couldn't really tense it. He'd used it to shield himself from sword strikes too many times. He gazed absentmindedly at it as it hung limply at his side.
"Well, it's a fine handicap." He glared at the skeleton warriors and moved his left arm a bit. A pain that he would never have thought could come just from moving his fingers coursed through his entire body.
But what did it matter? Rororo had continued charging even though some of his heads had become deadweight. Could Zenbel Gugu do something so laughable as give up now?
How strong was a skeleton warrior? Zenbel had fought them, so now he knew. Two of them against him would be an even match. That's how strong they were. If he had had to fight four at once, he might not have been able to win. Thank you, crab. Maybe I shouldn't eat mud crabs for a while. After showing mental gratitude to his favorite food, he turned his attention back to the two approaching skeleton warriors.
He balled up his fist.
He could still fight. He could still stand.
Honestly, he wondered how it was possible. Maybe the ancestors of all tribes have truly descended on us…
"Hah! This is no time to think crap like that!"
There was only one reason. He scoffed at his doubting self of a moment ago.
He saw Zaryusu's back beyond the skeleton warriors. His comrade didn't retreat even one step despite Iguvua's overwhelmingly powerful presence.
"That's the biggest reason…"
Yes… Zaryusu. Crusch. Rororo. They had all fought together. That was why he could still fight.
"Whoa, Zaryusu! You're really beat up! That's worse than the time you fought me, isn't it?"
He swung his powerful arm at the attacking skeleton warriors and sent one flying. The other answered with its scimitar, and he didn't manage to block it completely with his left arm, and another cut opened on his flank around where Crusch had healed him before. "Crusch is doing awesome even though her situation sucks, too."
She'd shot over another spell that began to heal him. He didn't turn around, but he heard her voice right at water level. He could imagine from what position she was casting. How could she still even use magic?
"…What a great female." If he was going to marry, he wanted a female like her. Zenbel felt just a little jealous of Zaryusu. I don't want her to see me collapse first! That'd be pathetic!
He feinted with his huge arm and whipped with his tail. Then he grinned. Plus I'm older than them!
The two skeleton warriors, concealing themselves with their shields, steadily closed in on him. The shields hid Zaryusu from his view, which triggered an intense emotional reaction in Zenbel. "You're in my way," "dammit! I can't see that cool male!" He let out a war cry and charged.
Iguvua and Zaryusu's back-and-forth continued. It was a fight where their eyes remained glued on each other, so Zaryusu felt it when Iguvua glanced away for a moment. His undead face warped in a horrifying grimace. And what happened next turned Zaryusu's body and soul to ice.
There came a splash from the rear—the sound of someone falling.
"Look! Your friend collapsed!"
He couldn't turn around. What Iguvua said might be true, but it might not be. And even if it was, he had another priority. A feeling like his scales were being pulled welled up inside him. But his enemy was overwhelmingly powerful. He didn't have time to turn and look. It was clear that the battle would be decided the moment he turned. Zaryusu hadn't come all this way to lose in such an idiotic way. He had come here to claim victory.
Still, if what Iguvua said was true, he'd be in trouble if he didn't find a way to deal with the enemy reinforcements that would be coming up from behind him.
I guess I'll take one magic hit. As Zaryusu steeled himself, there was additional heavy splashing as if someone was trying to stand up, followed by the sound of multiple bones breaking.
"Zaryusu! Sorry, but we're done for! That monster is… up to youuu!"
"…Middle Cure Wounds."
With Zenbel's pained words, a huge splash echoed. With Crusch's voice, which was barely a whisper, Zaryusu's wounds began to heal.
"Nrrgh!" At Iguvua's displeased face, Zaryusu didn't even have to turn around: the two of them must have done exactly what they'd needed to do. Then next up is…
"My turn!"
He swung Frost Pain, but Iguvua repelled it with the staff in his hand. "Heh-heh-heh. I am Iguvua, an elder lich. Just because I'm inferior in close-quarters combat doesn't mean you should discount me!"
Despite his boast, Iguvua felt with a chill that his chances of winning were low. If it were one-on-one, he probably could have claimed victory, considering the gap in their abilities. But with that white lizardman healing wounds from the rear, their positions in terms of remaining health had reversed.
Then came three attacks, of which Iguvua was able to block only one. Those other two cut into his body. He had resistance against cutting weapons like a skeleton and the additional chill damage had no effect, but this was still an extremely bad situation for him to be in.
His nonexistent blood boiled.
He had been created by the Great One as the commander of this army. Loss was unacceptable.
He at least wanted to summon some undead soldiers to guard him now that he could, but summoning magic took time to use. It would be pretty tricky to use it with an enemy right in front of him, just waiting for an opening to deal the deadly blow. But at this rate he'd be overcome no matter what.
So he decided to use his last resort. It wasn't a very good move, depending on the situation it could be considered a bad one, but it was the only move he had left.
Zaryusu hesitated before attacking as Iguvua suddenly turned his back and dashed away. Iguvua took the blow in his back and staggered but didn't fall. Zaryusu clicked his tongue at Iguvua's seemingly infinite health and ran after him to close the new gap.
Iguvua turned around. His face was twisted up in a rage that didn't seem very undead, but there was a hint of glee showing through as well.
A red light glowed in his hand. Another [Fireball].
Zaryusu, who had closed in, had doubts. An area-of-effect spell at this distance? Does he plan to self-destruct? Or… No, don't tell me… !
Fear welled up in Zaryusu's breast as he realized Iguvua's gaze wasn't directed at him. He was looking behind him, at Crusch and Zenbel, who were probably unconscious.
What should I do? Zaryusu stopped to think.
This was a big chance. If he abandoned them, he could most probably finish off Iguvua. If he didn't, though, he wasn't sure how the battle would go. Neither of them had much health left. There was an extremely high probability that a single wrong move could mean the end of this fight and of their lives.
To win against Iguvua, wasn't that why they were here? And they'd sacrificed so many of their comrades. He had to abandon Crusch and Zenbel. Surely they would smile and forgive him; he would if their positions were reversed.
But…
He didn't choose to abandon his comrades. He would save them and defeat Iguvua.
Once he'd made his decision, the rest was easy.
"Icy Burst!" Zaryusu created a wall of chill at his feet.
"Gwahhhh!" His body froze in the cold swirling up. The word ultra-painful failed to describe the agony that seemed to assault him.
As if clinging to consciousness, Zaryusu focused his piercing gaze on Iguvua and endured the pain. A scream broke through his gritted teeth, then a chilling mist enveloped the pair of them and dominated the area.
Enveloped in the white frost, Iguvua grinned as Zaryusu expected. It was like he was saying, You could have claimed victory if only you had abandoned your comrades. Iguvua was immune to chill and electric attacks. That was why he could just stand there in this torrent. He clamped his hand around the fireball to put it out. If he let it go and it hit the white mist swirling around him, he'd essentially be blowing himself up.
He could follow up with another attack on those two lizardmen after the mist disappeared. The first one he had to crush was still standing. Iguvua scanned the area and frowned. He had miscalculated one thing.
"Now…where is he?"
All the mist was obscuring his view. Iguvua could see in the dark, but he didn't have an ability that allowed him to see in conditions with bad visibility. As a result, he'd lost his enemy.
But he felt like he didn't need to worry too much. Judging by the distress in the lizardman's voice, he must have suffered fairly serious wounds. After all, he'd radiated enough chill to cancel Fireball. The damage should have been equal to the fire spell.
One wrong move with wounds that heavy could be fatal, so Iguvua could take his time stomping him out. I guess I should get through this mist first? Iguvua thought, but he immediately discarded the idea. If I move now, I'll give away my position. The first thing he needed to do was summon more undead. If he had some guards, his victory would be sure even if that one lizardman was still alive.
As he was about to cast, Iguvua suddenly heard a splash and then a sparkle above him. He looked up while desperately trying to flee from one of the Four Great Treasures handed down through generations of lizardmen, Frost Pain. Legend said that it was carved out of the ice that had formed the only time the lake had frozen.
It had three powers. The first was the ability to deal additional chill damage when cutting an opponent because its blade was enchanted. The second was the special move Icy Burst, which could be used three times per day.
And the third…
The air sounded like it was ripping.
The tip of a sharp blade appeared in Iguvua's field of vision faster than he could dodge it. The weapon made impact in his head. The blade that had entered his left eye disturbed his brain. Iguvua screamed in shock. "Gahhhhh! Why aren't you deeead?!"
Frost Pain was sticking deep in his left eye socket, and he felt a chunk of his life disappear…
Zaryusu's hazy figure appeared before Iguvua in the mist, covered in frost as the elder lich reeled with the blade still in his head.
Iguvua couldn't understand. How was Zaryusu still standing after taking so much chill damage?
Frost Pain's third power was the ability to protect the one who equips it from virtually all chill damage.
Of course, even though Frost Pain's defense against the cold was strong, it wasn't enough to completely nullify the powerful Icy Burst. Zaryusu had been weakened by the chill damage and all he could do was stand. He was panting, and his movements were slow. His tail was even drooping into the water. It would be near impossible to fight anymore. He hadn't even aimed well that attack. He'd just mustered the last remnants of his strength and left it up to his subconscious. It was only through instinct and experience that he'd hit him on the head.
Zaryusu's eyelids threatened to close, but he desperately fought to keep them open.
The blow he'd driven into Iguvua using the last of his strength had been fatal. He watched with a faint sense of anticipation.
Iguvua groped and staggered. As if he could no longer maintain his body, the skin on his face peeled off and cracks appeared in the bone. Even his clothes began to disintegrate into tatters. His destruction was only a matter of time now. The moment Zaryusu confirmed his miraculous victory, a hand of skin and bones reached out and grabbed his neck. "I—I was created by my master as his minion…! Do you really think you can destroy me…so easily?!"
The grip seemed like it would be easy to break away from if he tried, but—"Gwaaaaagh!"—a scream escaped Zaryusu's lips as intense pain shot through his entire body.
Negative energy was flowing in, robbing Zaryusu of his life. Even he, who had been trained in ways to withstand pain, had no way to manage a pain like the chill that was being directly injected into his veins.
"Diiiiiiie, lizardman!" Part of Iguvua's face chipped off and floated up, crumbling into the sky. His unlife was almost at its end, but devotion to his master made him cling to it.
Zaryusu desperately tried to resist, but he was frightened as his body wouldn't move quite right. Zaryusu himself didn't have much strength left, and all that negative energy from Iguvua's touch was completely sapping him. His gaze wavered and his vision started to go dim. A white fog seemed to be covering the world.
Iguvua was also mobilizing all the fading consciousness he could muster and smiled in victory at Zaryusu and his rapidly weakening resistance.
He would kill this lizardman and then those other two who had come at him before dying. These are probably top-class lizardmen. If he killed them, they would be fitting sacrifices to the Great One, his creator, who then would not be so mad at him being destroyed.
His expression spoke louder than words, so Zaryusu could tell what he was thinking.
"Diiiie!"
Zaryusu's body wouldn't move right. He could feel his temperature dropping, like poison was coursing through his body. It was even hard to breathe. Only his mental faculties were sharp in that world.
He couldn't die yet.
Rororo had run so hard.
Zenbel had been his shield.
Crusch had used up all her magic.
And that wasn't all. He could feel on his shoulders the weight of all the lizardmen who had fallen in this battle.
Faint noises came to Zaryusu's ears as he frantically groped for a way to fight.
… Crusch.
… Zenbel.
… Rororo.
He shouldn't be able to see them. Rororo was far away, Crusch and Zenbel unconscious behind him. Was his brain just imagining their faces due to his consciousness being muddled? Imagining words from his friends he'd met only a week ago?
No. No, he wasn't imagining them. Their shapes were in front of him, somehow shown to Zaryusu by the closest ghastly members of the largest lizardmen gathering he'd ever seen. The ancestors, all together.
"Yaaaaaaaaargh!"
"?! You still have that much power?"
Half-conscious, Zaryusu raised a war cry at the same time Iguvua shouted in surprise. Zaryusu's eyes rolled to stare down Iguvua.
Iguvua's face was twitching with rage to see the energy now in Zaryusu's gaze, where before the lizardman hadn't even been able to make eye contact.
"Crusch! Zenbel! Rororo!"
"What are you planning to do?! Diiiiie!"
Where did that life force even come from? With every passing moment, the vast negative energy sapped and devoured the lizardman. Really, Zaryusu's limbs were heavy, and his body felt as cold as ice.
Still, as he shouted each name, he felt warmth. The power welling up in him wasn't his life force, it was his sheer will and the ancestors' strength.
Something made a squeaking noise. It was Zaryusu's right hand. He'd balled it into a tight fist. In it, he'd gathered all of the new power.
"Of all the ridiculous—! Why can you move?! You monsterrrrr!" Iguvua couldn't believe his eyes that the lizardman could still move. A creeping horror rushed through his mind, but he frantically suppressed it.
He was Iguvua, the one deployed from the Great Tomb of Nazarick to command the army. And most importantly, he had been created by the Great One, Ainz Ooal Gown. He couldn't allow himself to be defeated.
"D—!"
"This is the end, monster!"
One moment faster. Yes, the full-force punch came one moment before Iguvua could flood him with more negative energy. Zaryusu took his tightly balled fist and slammed it into Frost Pain's hilt.
The blow, hard enough to draw blood from Zaryusu's hand, caused the tip of the sword in Iguvua's left orbit to go completely through his head.
"Arrrrrgh!" Iguvua was undead, so he felt almost no pain, but he could comprehend that he was losing all his false life. "Ahhh… argh… how… stupid… Great…One…"
Iguvua's eyes showed complete understanding that he'd been defeated.
Zaryusu's body collapsed like a marionette whose strings had been cut, and as he splashed into the marsh—
"Forgive…me…"—Iguvua crumpled apologizing to his master and vanished into nothingness.