In the event a Yggdrasil player showed up, he wasn’t planning on keeping his promise of staying out of the lizardman village. If the tribes couldn’t be made allies, he would crush them with all his might to prevent an intelligence leak—even if he had to bring out the big guns from level eight.
He shook off the guilt of breaking his promise with Cocytus. For the most important things, a fib was sometimes expedient.
“Okay, when it’s time for the show, let’s kick back and enjoy Cocytus’s battle.”
2
Four hours went by in the blink of an eye.
The ice on the marsh had melted, and the warriors were gathered by the main gate. Not many had lived through the fierce battle of the previous day to participate in this one.
In total, they were 316.
The reason only warriors were participating was because Shasuryu had said, “There aren’t a lot of enemies, so if we go out there with too many men, we’ll just get in one another’s way.”
At a glance it seemed like a legitimate reason, but of course, the truth was something else.
Zaryusu gazed at the gathered lizardman warriors from a slightly removed position. Their bodies were painted with the crests that proved the ancestral spirits had descended among them, and the willpower on their faces could cut like a knife. It didn’t seem like anyone had defeat on their minds.
Lizardmen nearby cheered for the warriors. Among them, there were many who couldn’t hide their fears.
Zaryusu struggled to fake confidence so his internal hesitation wouldn’t show, so the others wouldn’t realize this battle was an offering to the King of Death.
This fight was for the King of Death to show off his strength to the lizardmen, to obliterate their will to resist. They had no chance of victory from the start, and behind Shasuryu’s earlier statement was the desire to keep the victims to a minimum.
Zaryusu looked away from the lizardmen and shot a penetrating glare at the enemy side. The skeletons hadn’t taken a single step from their previous positions. He couldn’t see the monster Cocytus among them. He can’t just be one of these skeletons, can he? This is the King of Death’s aide. He won’t be any ordinary monster. He was sure he would feel it all the way to the tip of his tail when he laid eyes on him.
From behind Zaryusu, as he sank into his gloom, came the signature splashing sound of someone heavy wading through the marsh. “Yo, Zaryusu!” Zenbel called out to him in his usual carefree voice. Not a thing was different about him, even though they were about to go to their deaths.
“Morale is awesome, huh?”
“Yeah. It’ll be great if they can maintain it when they face that Cocytus monster…”
“Right? Oh! Is it already time?”
Shasuryu was at the gate. All the lizardmen turned their attention to him and the two swamp elementals next to him.
Crusch wasn’t there—she was pouring magical energy into the swamp elemental summoning. Between that and the long term–effect defensive spells she’d cast on Zaryusu, she probably wouldn’t be able to move when she was done, she’d used so much magical energy. In fact, she’d told him that when the two of them had left the house—that she probably wouldn’t see him again because she’d be passed out from using so much energy.
Feeling lonely with no one next to him, Zaryusu looked in the direction where he thought Crusch would be. Her expression when they had parted was tearing up his heart.
“Warriors! We march!” Shasuryu’s call to boost their fighting spirit sent the morale of the lizardmen in the area soaring. They were full of excitement.
I have to get back to the warriors. Zaryusu put a lid on the thoughts in his mind.
The lizardmen walked slowly forth with Shasuryu and the two swamp elementals out in front. They were leaving the village so that it wouldn’t get caught up in the fight. Zaryusu and Zenbel walked at the rear.
Zaryusu suddenly turned to look back. Those shabby mud walls, the worried lizardmen watching, and—
He breathed a faint sigh, cleared everything from his mind, and walked on—without murmuring the name of the female on the tip of his tongue.
The lizardmen walked through the marsh and took up a position midway between the village and the enemy skeletons.
They weren’t thinking about ranks. They were just scattered around, waiting for the fight to begin. At most, they’d have each tribe’s chief, Zaryusu, and the two elementals out front.
The enemy had probably been waiting for Zaryusu and company to arrive. The skeletons banged on their shields and stomped the ground. If the timing had been off, it would have just been noise, but the undead transformed the racket into a harmonious sound. It was so magnificent that anywhere but here it would have been worthy of applause.
While the sound attracted all the lizardmen’s attention, trees behind the skeletons in the forest started falling over.
There was only one reason huge trees with thick trunks like that would fall: Someone was cutting them down. A commotion went through the lizardmen.
Since they couldn’t see anyone, it was possible to imagine that multiple people were working together to cut them down. But the trees were crashing at intervals too precise for that to be true. It might have been possible, considering the perfectly ordered command of the undead they’d witnessed before, but none of the lizardmen thought so.
A strange feeling passed through their minds—that it was the work of a single actor.
What was strangest of all was that they couldn’t hear a blade hitting the tree trunks until right before the trees collapsed. In other words, impossible as it might seem, someone incredibly strong must have been felling the thick trees with a single swing.
Cutting a huge tree in two… How much arm strength and what kind of blade would one need to do such a thing?
The sound of the falling trees combined with the rhythm of the skeletons banging their shields and slowly approached the lizardmen.
The defenders were shaken. Of course they were. There wasn’t anyone who wouldn’t be shaken under those circumstances. Even Zenbel, Zaryusu, and Shasuryu, who had braced themselves, were shaken—they were just skillfully hiding it.
Eventually the figure cutting through the forest came into view. At the same time, the skeletons’ banging stopped.
In the unnatural silence was a mass of polished light blue. It sparkled so intensely it made one wonder how much light it would reflect if the sky weren’t covered by that thick cloud. The being looked like an eight-foot-tall bipedal insect. If the face of an ant and a praying mantis were combined and then demonically warped, it would probably look like this. The hard exoskeleton encasing his body was wrapped in a chill that sparkled like diamond dust. From his sturdy tail that was more than double his height sprouted countless spikes. His powerful lower jaws could surely sever a human arm with no trouble. His four arms featured sharp claws and were equipped with dazzling vambraces. From his neck hung a golden disk, and he wore silver anklets.
The appearance of an absolute power on par with the King of Death.
So that’s Cocytus? Zaryusu’s heart pounded, and at some point his breath had turned ragged.
None of the lizardmen had anything to say. Their eyes were drawn to the being who had shown himself, and they couldn’t tear them away—not even if they were scared.
Without realizing it, they began to retreat. These lizardmen who had boosted their morale before coming, and Zaryusu and company, who had braced themselves for this moment—they all quailed before the appearance of this overwhelmingly powerful opponent.
I get that the King of Death and his entourage weren’t going to fight us. But I had no idea how terrifying a powerful opponent who is ready to fight could be…
The monster they were up against was enough to make even Zaryusu want to run away, and he had a spell on him that should have canceled out fear. It was a miracle that the lizardmen who hadn’t received spells weren’t scrambling to flee.
Cocytus advanced towa
rd them with slow steps.
His imposing figure entered the marsh and passed among the skeletons…
When he’d approached to about thirty yards from the lizardmen, he stopped. Then he moved the insect head on top of his long, thin neck. As if he was looking for someone.
Zaryusu felt the gaze stop for a moment on him.
“NOW THEN, LORD AINZ IS WATCHING. PLEASE SHOW ME YOUR SPIRIT. BUT FIRST, ICE PILLAR.”
He repeated the spell, and about twenty yards away, between him and the lizardmen, two pillars of ice thrust up out of the water.
“IT MAY BE RUDE TO YOU WARRIORS WHO CAME HERE PREPARED, BUT ALLOW ME TO TELL YOU SOMETHING: ACROSS THAT LINE IS DEATH. IF YOU INSIST ON ADVANCING PAST IT, KNOW THAT DEATH AWAITS YOU.” Cocytus crossed two of his arms; it was a posture that said he made the rules.
“Hey, he’s actually a pretty nice guy!”
Zaryusu nodded as if agreeing with Zenbel’s outburst. Then he took a step forward. Following him, Zenbel, Shasuryu, and the other two chiefs took a step.
Shasuryu turned around and called out to the warriors who were about to follow them. “You guys can stay there… No, go back to the village. Otherwise you’ll probably get mixed up in this and be killed.”
“Hey, let us fight with you! We are scared…but still!”
“It’s not cowardly to pull out. It’s important to live!”
“Then why—?”
“Some lizardmen can’t withdraw. That’s just the way it is. How could a chief let his tribe get conquered without putting up a fight?”
“But, Chief, we’ll fight, too!”
“Hold up! Young fellows, go home. Leave the rest to us old fogies!” The lizardmen who had pushed their way to the front were plenty old but still far too young to be called elderly. There were about fifty-seven of them. When the others saw their expressions, they didn’t know what to say.
If there had been emotions like determination or resignation on their faces, the younger ones might have offered to accompany them, but their expressions contained a wish—the wish that those younger than them would survive and enjoy life.
The warriors, who had no words, moved off to the rear, frustrated.
Shasuryu turned back to Cocytus. “Didn’t mean to keep you waiting, Cocytus.”
Cocytus reached out an arm and curled one of his awfully long, thin fingers. Come at me!
In response, Shasuryu roared, “Chaaaaarge!”
“Rrrraaaaaaagh!” With a roar from the bottom of their hearts, the determined lizardmen raced across the marsh toward Cocytus.
Cocytus eyed the charging lizardmen coldly. “IT’S A SHAME, WARRIORS, BUT FIRST ALLOW ME TO THIN YOU OUT A BIT.” It was inconceivable that he would lose, even if they all reached him. Cocytus just judged that he should be selective.
Cocytus, as a warrior, would have rather shown respect and waited until they were in attack range to fight them. But under the circumstances (he was receiving more favor than he deserved), allowing the rabble to cross swords with a guardian of the Great Tomb of Nazarick would be disrespectful to the one watching.
Cocytus unleashed his sealed aura.
It was an ability from his knight of Niflheim class: Frost Aura. The skill slightly inhibited the user’s opponents’ movement while dealing extreme chill damage. If he had put it on full blast, the lizardmen watching the battle would have been in range, but he didn’t want to do that.
He held back the power.
Shorter range, less damage.
“THIS SEEMS ABOUT RIGHT.” An arctic frost spread out from Cocytus to cover an area with a radius of about twenty-five yards. The dramatic change in temperature caused the atmosphere to rumble.
“…OKAY. THAT’S PROBABLY ENOUGH.”
He suppressed his aura.
It lasted almost no time; the raging cold vanished as if it had never been there. But it definitely hadn’t been a dream or an illusion. The proof was the fifty-seven lizardman bodies littering the marsh.
Only five could still move—the strongest five. With neither fear nor hesitation at the death of their comrades or Cocytus’s power, they leaped into action at once.
A rock flew through the air. The first one to rush forward was the lizardman in armor. Two others followed him. The two swamp elementals (their bodies cracked from the chill) weren’t as nimble and moved slowly behind them. The last lizardman cast a spell.
That stone, the first attack, had been aimed at Cocytus’s neck, but it was pointless because—“ALL GUARDIANS HAVE RESISTANCE TO PROJECTILE WEAPONS VIA AN ITEM OR WHATNOT.” The rock was deflected as if it had hit an invisible shield.
The next challenger, the one running out in front, was the Razor Tail chief wearing one of the Four Great Treasures: White Dragon Bone. It was hard enough to repel Zaryusu’s Frost Pain and the strongest armor available to the lizardmen.
Facing him, Cocytus drew a sword out of the air, as if he’d been holding it secretly in space. It was an ōdachi, a sword with a blade easily six feet long called Imperial Sword Zanshin. It was the keenest weapon of the twenty-one in his possession.
And now he swung it at the oncoming lizardman.
His swordsmanship was so sharp it practically cut the air itself, and the atmosphere’s scream—a musical tone—echoed throughout the area. If it weren’t for the situation, it would have been a pleasantly serene sound.
The moment after, the chief, armor and all, was sliced vertically in two, and the two halves separated and collapsed into the marsh.
Cocytus had cut through the lizardmen’s strongest armor without putting even a nick in Imperial Sword Zanshin.
Without letting the death before their eyes faze them, the next two lizardmen split, one left, one right, and raised their weapons.
“Yaaaagh!” From the right, Zenbel’s spear hand stabbed toward Cocytus’s face with the power of Natural Iron Weapon and Iron Skin.
“Waaaagh!” From the left, Frost Pain stabbed toward his abdomen.
The attacks were based on the logic that in close combat it was difficult to use long weapons.
Of course, that went for only ordinary combatants.
Cocytus made a subtle dodge and took Zenbel’s arm from the side with the middle of his blade. He moved with the long sword exactly as if it were part of his body.
Iron Skin made Zenbel’s skin hard as steel, but Imperial Sword Zanshin’s sharpness had already been proven on White Dragon Bone. The blade bit smoothly into his arm and continued in a graceful motion to the water’s surface, easily severing the limb.
“Gahhhh!”
As blood spurted from Zenbel’s stump of a right arm, Cocytus caught Frost Pain in his other hand.
“HMM, AHA. IT’S NOT A BAD SWORD, BUT…”
“Tch!” Giving up on pulling Frost Pain free (it wouldn’t budge), Zaryusu unleashed a kick at Cocytus’s knee. Cocytus didn’t even attempt to avoid it, and a sharp pain ran through Zaryusu’s foot. It was as if he’d kicked a wall harder than steel with all his might.
“Overspell: Mass Slight Cure Wounds!” In exchange for a vast amount of magical energy, Shasuryu was able to force a spell from an elite tier he would never normally be able to use and heal everyone.
“HRM…” Cocytus had never seen this magical boost before, and he observed Shasuryu with great interest.
The two swamp elementals came running in to block his view. They stood between him and Zenbel, whose severed arm was on the mend thanks to the healing spell, and tried to attack with their tentacle-like arms. Before their attacks could connect, however, Cocytus slashed through the both of them, annoyed.
As the swamp elementals disintegrated into lumps of mud, Zaryusu punched Cocytus’s compound eyes and stomach and chest equivalents. Of course, the one who got hurt was him. He was already bleeding from the broken skin on his hand.
“PESKY ONE, AREN’T YOU?” Cocytus swung his spiked tail around and struck Zaryusu hard in the chest.
“Guh-hagh!” With a cracking sound, Zaryusu’
s body soared like a ball hit with a bat and crashed into the marsh. After rolling several times through the mud, he finally stopped, but the intense pain in his chest and the blood he was coughing up made it hard to breathe.
Had the broken bones in his chest punctured his lungs? He tried to inhale, but the air wouldn’t come. It was like being underwater. The warm fluid running down his throat made him nauseous. When he looked at his chest, he saw multiple wounds like knife gouges and a gush of blood flowing from them. I’m this bad after just one hit…?
Desperately struggling to breathe, Zaryusu glared at Cocytus with eyes that still had fight in them to see if a follow-up attack was coming.
“YOU STILL HAVE THE WILL TO FIGHT? THEN I’LL GIVE THIS BACK.” He tossed Frost Pain carelessly near Zaryusu, who was still in the mud, and then ignored him to face the others.
Although his arm had grown back, Zenbel had taken a battering, and Shasuryu cast a healing spell on him.
Another rock hurtled toward Cocytus as if to say, I won’t let you near them! But it ricocheted uselessly.
“HOW ANNOYING,” Cocytus mumbled and casually thrust his hand toward the Small Fang chief. “PIERCING ICICLE.” He launched dozens of sharp icicles the size of human arms from across a wide area.
The icicles had no trouble skewering the sole lizardman being targeted. One in the chest, two in his abdomen, one in his right thigh. They all went clear through him.
The Small Fang chief, the most talented lizardman ranger, swayed, then collapsed into the marsh, like a marionette whose strings had been cut, and died.
“Waaaagh!”
“Overspell: Mass Slight Cure Wounds!”
Zenbel charged, and Shasuryu used the healing spell again. Zenbel was trying to buy time for Zaryusu’s wounds to heal.
He knew it was reckless—all his abilities were powerless in the face of Cocytus’s—but he advanced with zero hesitation.
When Zenbel came in range, Cocytus casually swung Imperial Sword Zanshin at him.
The blow came faster than Zenbel could see.
The Lizardman Heroes Page 25