Chapter 50: CH 48

War Part 8

Translators: Skythewood, Frostfire10

Zaryusu felt his body being lifted out from the darkness. It was not an ill feeling, but was really comfortable.

Opening his eyes, a blurry world greeted him, similar to the one he sees whenever he wakes up.　

Where am I?

Why am I sleeping here?

He had many questions, and at the same time realized a weight pressing down on him.

— White.

Zaryusu stared at that white colour, that was the first word that came to mind in his sleepy mind. As he became more wake away, he understood what that was.

That was Crusch. She was sleeping on top of him.

“Ah…”

Crusch is alive.

Zaryusu felt relieved and almost said that out loud, but held it in. He couldn’t bear waking Crusch who was still sleeping, suppressing his urge to touch her. Even though her scales were beautiful, he couldn’t caress the scales of a female lizardman so thoughtlessly.

Zaryusu pushed the thought of Crusch out of his mind and thought about other things.

There were many things he needed to consider.

First of all, why was he here.

Searching his memory, he tried recalling what happened. After seeing the destruction of the Lich, his consciousness was cut off. He wasn’t captured and was still lying here, meaning his tribe probably won the war.

To avoid waking Crusch, Zaryusu sighed softly. He felt the burden he shouldered recently lightened. But thinking over it calmly, there were still some worries. They still didn’t know about the enemy or what their goal was, there was a high chance their foes will strike again… No, they will definitely do so.

He allowed his mind to rest. Zaryusu felt the warmth from Crusch’s body and sighed again.

After this, Zaryusu lightly moved his body. His entire body could move with no problems. He thought he might be maimed, but luckily he was fine.

Feeling relieved from his luck, Zaryusu looked around him. Finding his belongings near the wall, he noticed that this was the house he was staying in the past few days.

There was no other lizardman except for Crusch. This room had nothing but small items. There was nothing else. Then what happened to Zenberu. Contrary to his worry, a feeling of ‘A man of that level’ rose in his heart.

Crusch seemed to be waken by Zaryusu’s movement and stirred, as if a soul had been injected into her supple body. She should be waking soon.

“Hmm…”

Crusch made a cute sound and moved her dazed eyes to look around her. Shortly after, she noticed Zaryusu under her and smiled happily.

“Muu—”

The drowsy Crusch wrapped Zaryusu in her hands, and rubbed herself against him. It was the action of animals trying to leave their scent.

Zaryusu froze while Crusch did so.

Her albino scales felt nice and cold. In addition the smell of grass calmed his thoughts. Zaryusu wondered if he could hug her too.

When he couldn’t stand it any longer, Crusch’s eyes focused and looked at Zaryusu right in the eye.

— And froze instantly.

Facing Crusch who didn’t move while hugging him, Zaryusu wondered what he should say. In the end, he chose something he thought would not be a problem.

“— Can I hug you too?”

No, it not being a problem was a lie. As a result, Crusch made a menacing growl and her tail moved side to side. She then rolled away from Zaryusu’s side until she hit the wall.

A small voice could be heard from Crusch who was lying on her face. It said ‘Stupid stupid me’.

“… Well, I am glad you are safe, Crusch.”

Crusch had calmed down, raised her head and smiled at Zaryusu.

“It is great that you are fine. I believed that you would be after the druids cast magic, but I was still worried.”

Noticing that her words had some information in them, Zaryusu asked.

“Do you know what happened after I blacked out?”

“Yeah, more or less. After you defeated the Lich, the enemy retreated. Your brother also defeated the monsters and saved the three of us… That was yesterday.”

“Zenberu isn’t here…”

“He is fine. He had stronger recovery speed than you and regained consciousness after receiving healing spells. He should be settling the aftermath of the battle. I seemed to have blacked out from exhaustion after hearing all that…”

Crusch got up and sat down beside Zaryusu. Zaryusu wanted to get up too, but Crusch stopped him.

“Don’t push yourself, you have the most serious injuries out of us all.”

She was probably recalling the scene that time as her voice grew softer.

“It’s great that you are okay, really great…”

Zaryusu caressed Crusch who was looking down and consoled her.

“I will not die before hearing your answer. I am worried about you too.”

Answer. As Crusch recalled the question, she faced Zaryusu with a serious expression. It was the figure of a female about to talk from her heart.

Then they said nothing and a silent time was created.

Crusch moved her tail slowly, tangling Zaryusu’s tail. The black and white tail entangling together looked just like two snakes mating.

Zaryusu looked at Crusch quietly, and Crusch was looking at him too, their reflection could be seen in each other’s eyes.

Zaryusu uttered something softly. No, it wasn’t words, but a cry. That was the cry he uttered when he first met Crusch.

— A mating call.

Zaryusu didn’t do anything after the cry. No, he couldn’t do anything except letting his heart beat intensely.

Moments later, Crusch made the same sound— a cry. The same emotional cry while shaking her tail, that was— the cry to accept the mating call.

An indescribably seductive expression appeared on Crusch’s face, Zaryusu could no longer pull his eyes away from Crusch. Crusch pushed herself onto Zaryusu, the position was similar to the one they had while sleeping.

There was almost no distance between their faces, their warm breathing mixed together, their heartbeat synchronized through their chests that were touching, and two of them became one—

“Oh! Getting busy!?”

The door was opened strongly and Zenberu charged in.

Crusch and Zaryusu froze like ice sculptures.

Zaryusu was surprised at the fact that he completely could not sense a male like Zenberu getting close. However, more than anything this was a completely unexpected development.

Zenberu tilted his head and asked those two, Zaryusu who was on top of Crusch.

“What, you haven’t started yet?”

They did not understand his words. When they did, the two silently parted. They slowly stood up. They faced the ground so Zenberu could not see their faces. No, it was good for him to not see. Yes, the bad thing came afterwards.

The two kept silent and stood before Zenberu.

Zenberu looked down at the two of them confusedly and leaned forward.

“—Gahhhh!”

He took two punches to the stomach. After exhaling, Zenberu’s giant body collapsed onto the floor.

“Wooo… What powerful punches… especially Crusch… Gahh… that really hurts…”

Leaving Zaryusu aside, the punch of wrath from the female lizardman could even win against Zenberu.

That wasn’t enough to vent their anger, but no matter how much they beat Zenberu up, that atmosphere would never come back. The two quickly realised that and gave up.

They held each other’s hand and asked Zenberu.

“I heard some of it, but could you tell me what is the situation right now?”

Zaryusu and Crusch were holding hands, but they were touching nowhere else. Even Zenberu could not see the level of interest. To him, it was a natural thing so they naturally calmed down.

“Don’t you know? All the tribes are having a victory party.”

It was the ceremony to return the spirits of their ancestors to their original locations. Performing it meant that the war ended. Zaryusu breathed a sigh of relief.

“My older brother is hosting the party?”

“That’s right. Anyway, the hunters scouted the region and did not find any signs of the enemy, and no traces of reinforcement or ambush. It would be difficult to hide such a large army. We are still on alert, but your brother has already declared victory. I am here on your brother’s orders.”

“My brother’s orders?”

“Yes, your brother said —’Shahaha, just let the two of them sleep together. They might already be getting it on, shahaha. It’s a bit embarrassing to interrupt, but I am curious, shahaha’.”

[Bullshit! What’s with the shahaha?]

Zaryusu and Crusch. Receiving the roars of the two, Zenberu shrunk back.

“Oh… There wasn’t any shahaha…”

“There’s no way my brother will laugh like that, really…”

“I am just expressing it more vividly…”

“— You are the worst.”

A chill that could match ‘Icy Burst’ came out from Crusch’s mouth along with these words. That frightening voice even gave Zaryusu goosebumps. Zenberu who was being lectured shivered and stiffened.

“So, why are you here?”

“Ermm, I am here to disrupt…”

“If you dare say you are here to be the third wheel, I will let you taste all the magic that you can think of.”

Zaryusu and Zenberu were pretty sure that Crusch wasn’t joking.

“Eh… I am here to invite you guys to join the party. We are the key figures in this victory, right? We can’t miss the party. And we need to discuss about the future of the lizardmen too…”

“I see…”

After hearing Zenberu’s roundabout explanation, Zaryusu smiled wryly after catching on what he wanted to say. Zenberu meant to say: There might be another battle, now was the time to display their strength.

“I got it, are you going too, Crusch?”

The unhappy Crusch puffed her cheeks, looking just like a Delmas frog residing in the wetlands. But Zaryusu thought she was much cuter.

“So, are we going?”

Zenberu casually asked Zaryusu and Crusch who were looking into each other’s eyes.

“A, ah. Yeah, let’s go.”

“Eh.”

“Alright!”

After the two of them acknowledged, the trio walked out together. When they walked down the stairs and stepped into the wetlands, Zaryusu suddenly disappeared from Crusch and Zenberu’s view. Something large suddenly knocked Zaryusu down.

— Bang voom voom splash. That’s roughly how it sounded like.

Zaryusu disappeared from their view, and was replaced by Rororo’s figure. Its four heads twisted around energetically, pushing their noses at Zaryusu who had fell into the wetlands.

“Rororo! You are alright!”

Zaryusu who was covered in mud stood up and walked up to Rororo, gently caressing its body and observed it. It seemed to have received magical treatment, all its burn wounds from before had been healed, it was as if it was never hurt in the first place.

Rororo whimpered as it entangled Zaryusu with all of its heads, almost covering Zaryusu completely in its tight embrace.

“Hey hey hey, stop that, Rororo.”

Zaryusu laughed as he restrained Rororo with his voice. Rororo only cried happily, but didn’t let go.

Splash splash splash.

Zaryusu suddenly heard this rhythmic sound of water splashes, and was baffled when he found the source.

It was Crusch. She was watching Zaryusu and Rororo with a gentle smile, but her tail was hitting the wetlands with a fixed rhythm.

Zenberu who was standing beside Crusch shuffled away slowly with a stiff expression.

Rororo stopped moving too. It probably sensed that something was wrong.

“What is it?”

“No, it’s nothing…”

Zaryusu looked at Crusch who asked him the question and was confused. No matter how he looked at it, Crusch was smiling and happy that Zaryusu and Rororo were reunited. But somehow, it gave him a chilling feeling.

“How strange—“

Crusch smiled again.

Rororo released Zaryusu and he regained his freedom. Zenberu seemed to be fearful of something. Zenberu probably couldn’t stand this strange atmosphere anymore and changed the topic in a hurry.

“Alright Rororo, you and I will move on ahead.”

Of course, Rororo couldn’t understand the language of the lizardmen, but it obediently allowed Zenberu to mount it and ran off with amazing speed.

After those two had left, a strange atmosphere fell between Zaryusu and Crusch.

Crusch hugged her head as she shaked it.

“Ah~ really, what am I doing. It feels like my heart isn’t my own. Even though it is irrational, I couldn’t help myself. This is like a curse.”

Zaryusu understood how she felt. Because he felt the same way when he met Crusch for the first time too.

“To be honest, Crusch— I am very happy.”

“— What!?”

Splash, a loud sound of water erupted. Zaryusu then moved to Crusch’s side.

“Listen, can you hear it?”

“Hmmm?”

“The things we successfully defended are also the things we have to protect from now on.”

Sounds of rowdy laughter were carried here with the wind, they should be holding a banquet right now. The banquet was meant to bid farewell to the ancestors, celebrate their victory and to mourn the dead.

Wine was originally an expensive luxury. But they managed to have several banquets thanks to Zenberu’s tribe bringing one of the four treasures that supplied unlimited wine. And because all of the tribes were gathered here, they could enjoy this unbelievably joyous atmosphere.

Zaryusu listened to the joyous cheers and said to Crusch with a smile.

“This might not be over yet, that Supreme One person might still attack, but even so… we should relax for today.”

Zaryusu then put his hands on Crusch’s waist.

Crusch followed the flow and stuck onto Zaryusu, resting her head on Zaryusu’s shoulder.

“Shall we go?”

“Yeah…” Crusch answered and after hesitating for a moment, she called out:”… My darling.”

The two lizardmen walked together, disappearing into the noisy crowd—

■

There, the bell that brought the lizardmen to despair was about to ring.

The door slowly closed. The person who was previously inside had just left.

Ainz moved his gaze from the parchment in his hand to the closed door. He then raised just his index finger, and pointed it towards the ceiling.

“Eight Edge Assassins—-”

There were several presences on the ceiling.

Stuck on the ceiling, the spider-ninja-like monsters who had no presence until now, moved in response to the greatest one’s words. Still facing the door, Ainz gave them orders.

“I have a mission for you. Come down.”

“Understood.”

With those words, they remained invisible and silently landed on the floor. Ainz finally looked at them.

Although the Eight Edge Assassins were invisible, from the viewpoint of someone who could see past invisibility, such as Ainz, they were easily visible. Shalltear and Aura had this skill as well. The Head Maid, Pestonya, and the librarian, Titus, and the rest of the high class individuals in the room could tell the existence of the Eight Edge Assassins as well, via the movement of the air, vibrations, or the ability to see through invisibility.

“Four of you tail Narberal.”

Narberal had just left the room.

No one in the room had any opposition to Ainz’s orders of tailing his own subordinate. This was as their master had decided it, and it was absolute. The Eight Edge Assassins only deeply bowed.

“….If she makes any strange moves, restrain her. Killing should be in moderation. I shall leave what qualifies as strange to you. However, when you cannot decide, report back to me. The observation period is until she leaves Nazarick.”

“—-Understood.”

“Then go.”

“Ha!”

As if sliding, four spider-like monsters moved. The remaining three returned to the ceiling. As the door closed without a sound, everyone in the room gazed at Ainz, waiting for his words.

However, Ainz did not speak.

He seemed to be glaring at the door that Narberal, and the Eight Edge Assassins had left by.

“By the way Ainz-sama, have you forgotten about my ability?”

Shalltear spoke to Ainz as if she had just recalled. In response, Ainz replied with a tinge of loneliness and familiarity in his voice.

Shalltear’s ability—-An ability of the Curse Knight Class [Low Item Destruction Due to Curse]

In exchange for the bonuses of the Curse Knight class, penalties of a similar level were added. It was quite an unpopular class. Wondering why she would purposely have such a class, Ainz, no Momonga asked the creator Peroronchino.

The answer he received was quite a proud one.

Peroronchino’s prideful voice played in his head with “I have penetrated the backdoor of the production company!”

There was no way that Ainz could have forgotten that, those memories of the golden age.

“….There is no way that is true. On the contrary I was worried about what would happen if I passed it to you.”

Shalltear placed one of her icefish-like fingers on her chin and tilted her head. Her appearance was of a 14 year old beauty, and would be a beautiful painting. Her insides were another matter.

Feeling relaxed from Shalltear’s attitude, Ainz smiled and spoke his thoughts.

“….Do you have confidence of the loyalty of that thing?”

“Do you mean the jewel of death?”

The one who asked was Aura. In the world of the two talking, Aura spoke as if saying ‘Hey hey, I’m here too’, which made Shalltear extremely dissatisfied. No, the aggregation of blood in her crimson eyes were enough proof that she was angry.

However, Aura ignored Shalltear’s changes and continued.

“Umm, I believe it but….”

It is natural to proclaim one’s loyalty before the great Ainz-sama.

He is the Great Lord of Death….Well, one cannot expect a child to remember these things.

Right, Shalltear. Sorry.

….Well, I shall forgive you. However, please do not forget it again.

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Ignoring the two, Ainz spoke to Pestonya waiting behind him.

“I do not believe it. So I gave it to Narberal who was leaving Nazarick.”

“Yes.”

Suddenly responding to conversation without a bit of awkwardness was the very model of a maid. However, noticing that they had went off topic, the two Guardians panicked and steered the conversation back.

“Basically considering that it might have been dangerous, we brought it away from Nazarick?”

“….Yes. Aura.”

“However, then I should have broke it.”

“….Shalltear. That is jumping to conclusions. That is one of your weaknesses. Breaking it might be simple, but we should think of it as losing something valuable.”

Taking a breath, although undead did not need to breathe, Ainz spoke his thoughts.

“Intelligent items are outside of my field of knowledge, and we do not know a single thing about it. Breaking it would be a waste. It is simply that I feel uncomfortable being in the dark. It might be hiding secrets, and we have no methods of searching for such items. It also has controlling abilities.”

“But then….”

Once Ainz spoke out the reasons why he sent the Eight Edge Assassins to tail Narberal, everyone in the room agreed.

Considering that it might be a dangerous items, Narberal would carry it and be sent on a mission away from Nazarick. Not telling Narberal was to ensure that the item would not find out.

While mind control had no effects on existences like undead, they would work on Narberal.

Originally, it would be ideal to search for the perfect sacrifice among his subordinates. However, under those conditions Narberal was the best choice.

“It would be nice if nothing happens when she holds it for a while. If something does….”

“Understood. Please allow me to be part of the team to save Narberal if it occurs.”

Ainz nodded deeply to Pestonya’s suggestion since she was the best healer in the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick.

“Of course. We shall assemble the best members then. Shall we have all the Guardians attend?”

With Shalltear and Aura as representatives, everyone bowed at once.

All of them comrades who were connected with a strong rope to Ainz, the 41 Supreme Beings that created them. While it was fine to sacrifice themselves for the 41 Supreme Beings, there were no other existences better suited for the job.

If Narberal were to be used by someone unknown, to erase their goal, they had to limit their usage of their power. As it would be troubling to search for the goal, it would be much easier to destroy them using a country’s power.

Not noticing that he was moving to such thoughts, Ainz lightly nodded.

He was moved by his subordinate’s unity and their friendship.

Then, a small knock came from the door.

The room was large to the point that if one did not have sharp sense, they would not have heard it. However since powerful existences had such a thing as a foundation, several gazes fell on the door.

Slightly later, the maid next to the door opened it and checked the ones outside the door. Everyone guessed who it was. There was currently only one person who was called to this room but had yet to arrive.

As the maid confirmed their identities, she closed the door, and walked to Ainz. She then came right next to him, bowed, and spoke.

“Ainz-sama. Cocytus-sama and Entoma-sama have arrived.”

“Fine.”

Hearing the arrival of the ones he expected, Ainz nodded.

“Enter.”

“Understood.”

As the maid went to open the doors again, the room had a slightly tense atmosphere. They were worried about how Cocytus would face them after his failure.

In response, Ainz only smiled. A failure was perfectly within his expectations after all.

“Excuse me.”

“Excuse me.”

Cocytus entered the room. Behind him was Entoma. Once Cocytus walked to Ainz’s desk, he deeply bowed. Entoma was hiding behind him when he entered, but lined up with Aura and the rest at the side.

The figure of Cocytus kneeling before Ainz was one like a prisoner admitting his own sin and awaiting judgement.

“This instance was my failure, for which I offer my extreme apologies. Please—”

As Cocytus was about to continue, Ainz raised his hand to stop him.

“….Cocytus. How was the battle?”

“Ha! Even though I have received subordinates—-”

“—-I do not want to ask that. I want to ask how you would have won.”

Cocytus made a slightly—-He looked like an insect so it was not clear—- strange face and only kept silent and thought about Ainz’s question. He then spoke.

“I underestimated the lizardmen too much. It is only prudent to be more cautious with my actions.”

“Yes, that is precisely it! No matter how weak the opponent is, they cannot be underestimated. I am glad that you can understand.”

Ainz then directed his gaze at Shalltear. Noticing it, Shalltear slightly hide her eyes. She was probably recalling her previous failure.

“Very good, what else?”

“Yes, there was also insufficient information. From this battle I now understand that in a situation where I am unfamiliar with the opponent’s extent of strength and the terrain, the chance of victory would certainly be diminished.”

“Hmm”

As Ainz nodded satisfactorily, Cocytus felt his heart lighten.

“Anything else?”

“Having an incompetent commander was also one of the problems. Because the ones battling were lower class undead, a commander should have been sent out who is flexible according to the circumstances and able to give out correct commands at the right times. Also, when taking into account the weapons used by the lizardmen, the zombies should have been used as the main force in carrying out the attack, exhausting the opponent, or alternatively have all of the forces attack together and not act separately.”

“Apart from that?”

“… I am extremely sorry, at the moment I can only come up with this much…”

“Yes. This is precisely it. Amazing. Of course there are other things, but Cocytus, you have learnt well. Why did you not do this at first?”

“I did not think of them. I only considered crushing them with pure force.”

“If it’s that… However, after sacrificing those undead, you now think differently right?”

Several people in the room looked dubiously at Ainz’s happy atmosphere. It was strange that Ainz was satisfied when the troops from Nazarick were defeated. Cocytus was the same. He thought that he would be punished. However, strangely, it did not seem that he would be given anything of the sort.

“Cocytus. You want to apologise, but is there a problem?”

“—-Ha?”

“The skeletons and zombies were destroyed. But does that have an effect on [Ainz Ooal Gown] which made the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick. If you think it does, then that is the problem.”

Ainz moved his gaze from the stupefied Cocytus to Shalltear.

“What will happen to Nazarick with such losses? Shalltear, when will the skeletons respawn?”

“Undead of that level will respawn in about one hour. I believe that new ones have already been born.”

“—-So it is like that.”

“However, this does not erase my failure—-”

“Do not mind it, Cocytus. There is no problem even if you do not win. Failure was part of my plan in the first place.”

“So Ainz-sama truly did not consider victory?”

“I actually wanted you to realise without Demiurge’s help.”

Ainz gazed at Entoma, and stopped Cocytus when he understood and was to bow.

“I don’t mind. However, it would not have been it a problem even if you won. My plans would have proceeded no matter the outcome. Cocytus, I want to ask you if you have gained anything.”

“That is?”

Ignoring Cocytus, Ainz faced Pestonya.

“Bring that.”

“Yes.”

Pestonya walked to a corner of the room and brought that back. It was a silver tray with a cover. She placed it silently on the table.

“Look at this.”

Cocytus stood up, and gazed at the silver tray on Ainz’s desk. Pestonya removed the cover, and there was something in the middle. Cocytus wondered what it was as he thought for an instant. If there was no particular smell of carbon, Cocytus would still be wondering.

“….This is….What exactly. Could it be….ashes?”

“This is a steak a maid made after practicing for five days.”

It was a simple black mass. And he was saying it was a steak. Cocytus could not believe it and was at a loss for words.

“Cooking needs specialised skills right?”

“Yes.”

In Yggdrasil, cooking needed the right skills. Well, it gave temporary ability bonuses so it was natural.

“Maids do not have cooking skills. So they did not succeed after three days.”

Ainz cut the blackened meat with a knife. The centre had completely turned to carbon.

“Basically if we try to do something we do not have the skills for, it will end in failure….Actually, even trying to fry meat myself did not work.”

There was quite a commotion when Ainz tried to cook in the kitchen. Despite the common, the only thing he could make was the black burnt meat. His memories of what happened after he started were blurry. It was a brainless task. It was difficult to control the flame to what he wanted. But, he could not even fry it.

“….I wanted to know, Cocytus. Can one learn without skills.”

Basically Cocytus was an experiment to find out if already completed existences like Ainz could learn. If Cocytus could learn martial arts or war strategy, it would prove that Ainz and the rest could improve. The reason he set Cocytus up to lose was as losing would provide more places to learn.

The result was to Ainz’s satisfaction. Cocytus’ growth was possible.

Of course, learning martial arts and gaining knowledge were two completely different things.

Ainz was aiming for mastery of this world’s special magic, if it existed. Ainz was still wondering if magic was a skill or knowledge. However, this was an experiment related to the growth in one’s knowledge.

An even simpler experiment for knowledge was in Ainz’s head. However, considering what was after this, martial arts and strategy were very important. Then the experiment would kill two birds with one stone.

“You have taught me that it is possible to mature. Good work.”

There was the possibility of one being unable to change, but Ainz was satisfied.

Ainz thought.

When the strongest stopped trying to grow, they would stagnate. They would be overtaken.

Even if one had 100 year lead in military arts, they might be the strongest. However, if they stopped, they would drop from their position. They might be the strongest within the neighbouring country. However, how long can they sustain the title. Those that did nothing were simple fools.

“….Yes. Everything was as planned. You have done well Cocytus.”

“Ha”

Cocytus was not fully absolved of his guilt and so he kneeled again and bowed to Ainz.

“Ainz-sama. What should we do with the lizardmen?”

“The experiment is over, their existence is not important. Shall we clean them to prevent information from leaking?”

There was no sign that races other than the lizardmen were taking part. Then they could estimate that the world of the lizardmen was not large. There would be no problem in stopping the flow of information out of that small world. However, for Ainz’s peace of mind, he could not leave them alone. He might have to crush them in full force. Even if he had to use his trump cards.

As Ainz said so to Aura, he noticed Cocytus moving slightly in the corner of his eye.

“What’s wrong Cocytus?”

“Ainz-sama, can I ask one thing?”

“I don’t mind….”

“Killing them would be a waste.”

“Hmm….True.”

Ainz thought. It was true that his original idea was to subjugate the lizardmen.

Ainz gazed at Cocytus. He recalled Cocytus’ personality and understood his interest. He was the type to respect the strong. That strength was not pure power. It was something the eye could not see.

However, he could not simply rule them under the current circumstances.

“….I don’t mind if we destroy them, or ignore them….Or so I thought. I want to know one thing. How does it feel to be thought of as weak?”

Ainz looked at the Guardians. No one spoke, but the emotion in their eyes were enough to understand.

“—-Aura.”

“Yes. It is very nauseating.”

“—-Shalltear.”

“Defeat does not go well with [Ainz Ooal Gown].”

“Cocytus.”

“I believe we should teach them true strength.”

Ainz smiled.

“Then, shall we be a bit serious? Send orders to all the Guardians except Gargantua. We’re making a move.”

“Ha.”

The voices of the three Guardians were in harmony.

“Shalltear. I am going as well. Prepare the troops.”

“Understood. Then I shall prepare all of Nazarick’s 100 000 troops.”

“100….How long will it take to move all of them?”

Ainz voiced his refusal at the time Shalltear calculated.

“I am unhappy that the Lizardmen are currently thinking that Nazarick is not much of an enemy. I do not mind if it is only the troops that can leave immediately….Yes. Send out the Nazarick Old Guard.”

There were undead guards known as Old Guards.

Nazarick Old Guards did not exist anywhere else but the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, and were high ranking undead of the Old Guard. They had magic weapons of varying effects, wore magic armour and shields, and learned several battle skills. They were excellent guards.

Their level was 18. The Skeleton Warriors were level 16.

“How many?”

“All.”

“Then, how about 6000 of them?”

Ainz stopped for an instant. He was surprised that they had that many. However, he immediately hid it—-

“Could you not hear me? All.”

“Yes. My apolog—- My apologies.” (She removes accent in second.)

Ainz calmly waved his had at the bowing Shalltear.

“Then Shalltear. Use <Gate> and send the troops in one swoop.”

“I have a limit to what I can do alone.”

Ainz expected Shalltear’s answer and faced Pestonya.

“Pestonya. Support her. Pass your mana to Shalltear.”

“Understood.”

“If not enough call for Lupusregina. —-Aura.”

“Yes.”

“Choose your strongest subordinates to be my personal guard.”

“Understood.”

“Cocytus. You are now the vanguard. Follow my orders.”

“Ha. I shall return my earlier defeat.”

Ainz smiled and spread his two hands.

“Now. Begin the mission. Tell Demiurge to return as well.”

Ainz whispered a small sigh in the empty room.

“But….A failure. Should I have sent a stronger undead than a Lich?”

The commanding lich was made with Ainz’s Low Rank Undead Creation. It was one of the eight undead he could make everyday since coming to this world.

Low Rank Undead Creation.

It was an ability to create undead from level 10 to 24. High Rank Undead Creation was from Level 25 to 40.

Considering that he had lost the strongest undead he could make with Low Rank Undead Creation, he might have been underestimating the lizardmen.

“….How troubling.”

He ordered the messengers to not bring up the name Nazarick as a prevention against Yggdrasil Players. Lizardmen were one of the races in Yggdrasil. It was possible that they were in the tribes.

The reason they gave time was so that if there were Players, they could call their Guild or comrades, letting Ainz learn of them. However, when only lizardmen gathered, the chance of players existing was low, so they attacked.

Another thing to pull out Players was the existence of the commanding Lich. If a Lich, a strong existence that the lizardmen could not defeat, appeared, Players would come out and fight, but it lost to just the lizardmen.

In the end, the chance of them existing was low, but they could not run the risk. That was the biggest problem.

If Players existed, they would have made preparations. Ainz could not let them get away.

“That’s why I’m going.”

He was personally against it, but he had to confirm.

He could not leave it to the Guardians as he had no idea how it would end. He felt that several of the Guardians looked down on their opponent. It would be nice if the defeat changed that, but changing their mindset would take time.

If they cannot throw away their pride, and if they faced a player, depending on the level and numbers, the Guardians might get wiped out. He had to avoid that.

“But….If we fight, can I win?”

Ainz thought about the Eight Edge Assassins on the ceiling, and kept those words in his mouth.

Ainz’s strength as a Yggdrasil Player was doubtful. If they did not take extreme measures, he had cards up his sleeve to instantly kill any one of them. However, they were already on the wiki.

Since the guild [Ainz Ooal Gown] was of the strongest class, a certain level of information of each guild member was written in the wiki. If the opponent did not know, defeat was impossible. But if he did, it would be trouble.

“….Should I bring that out….”

Ainz recalled the largest scale trump card on the 8th Floor.

Most players would call it a cheat, and would rival the World Champion. And that was the reason why after 1500 people attacked, they did not regroup and try again. Did the time come to move it.

“But….How troubling….”

Ainz felt a heavy weight on his shoulders and fell into deep thought.

While thinking that he had to consider a lot of things.

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