Across the desolate plains, a dense army advanced slowly like a tide. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers stretched into a seemingly endless human sea, and the earth trembled with their advance.
In opposition, thick dark clouds shrouded the sky, and within the shadows below, an endless army of skeletons stood in neat formation, emanating an aura of deathly silence. Wisps of ghost fire floated in the air, and the banner of the Great Tomb of Nazarick fluttered in the gale.
"What exactly is that?"
At the forefront of the army, Marquis Raeven trembled as he gazed at the boundless skeleton army opposite. Merely looking at them from afar caused an uncontrollable fear to well up within him. The soldiers beside him, who had initially been full of vigor, also began to waver, their faces filled with terror as they looked at the enemy.
It was the first time they had seen such a massive undead army. Whether it was the skeletons' bodies or the deathly aura that was like poison to the living, their bodies instinctively felt fear.
"It seems this will be a difficult battle."
Beside him, Gazef Stronoff, the Warrior Captain, looked at the opposing force with a grave expression, his voice tinged with bitterness. He never imagined that their enemy this time would be Lord Ainz. They had previously enjoyed a pleasant conversation, and Lord Ainz had even saved his life.
He never expected that when they met again, they would be forced to face each other in a life-or-death struggle, becoming enemies.
"Is that Lord Ainz Ooal Gown that you, Captain Gazef, have been warning His Majesty about?"
At that moment, Marquis Raeven suddenly looked at the undead army opposite. The neatly arranged army began to move, and a golden carriage adorned with countless jewels, pulled by four skeletal horses, emerged from within. Then, a tall undead being wearing a magnificent robe stepped down.
Following closely behind, the fully armed Floor Guardians also emerged, silently standing behind Ainz Ooal Gown, their auras of violence, bloodlust, and cruelty unreservedly erupting from their bodies.
"Lord Ainz..."
Gazef stared at Ainz Ooal Gown's grotesque and terrifying skull face with a complex expression, his mind constantly recalling their first encounter. He had originally thought that they could become friends, but unexpectedly, things had turned out this way.
"Marquis Raeven! Did you see it, and did you feel it?"
Suddenly, the sound of hooves approached, and several nobles hurriedly arrived at Marquis Raeven's side, looking at Ainz Ooal Gown opposite with terrified expressions, speaking haltingly. At this moment, immense magic power that inspired despair was constantly pouring out of Ainz Ooal Gown's body, and the shadow of death loomed over everyone's heads.
"Yes!"
As he spoke, Marquis Raeven and Gazef simultaneously turned their heads to look at the opposite side. Even though there were dozens of kilometers of grassland separating them, a clearly visible magic circle appeared beneath Ainz Ooal Gown's feet. Then, to everyone's disbelief, those dazzling magic circles rose continuously, and an existence known as despair enveloped the hearts of everyone in the Re-Estize Kingdom.
"What... what exactly are we fighting against?"
Looking at the rising magic circles, Marquis Raeven's despairing voice rang out. That feeling of transcending dimensions, of the two sides not even being on the same level of existence, had completely crushed his heart.
"Captain Gazef, please immediately retreat with His Majesty the King!"
"Yes, and retreat in an orderly fashion!"
"Naturally, retreat like rabbits escaping... No! Failure..."
"No!"
Just then, Zanac, the King who had been silent on the side, interrupted Marquis Raeven and Gazef. The two of them subconsciously turned their heads to look forward, only to see King Zanac looking at them with determination and majesty in his eyes, as if he did not feel the slightest fear towards the power displayed by Ainz Ooal Gown.
"Your Majesty?"
Marquis Raeven, not understanding King Zanac's meaning, asked with a hint of doubt in his voice. Could it be that His Majesty did not feel the terrifying power on the opposite side?
That was simply an existence that they could not resist. Even if they had ten or a hundred times more soldiers, it would be absolutely impossible. In the face of that kind of existence, they were so weak that they were not even ants. What was the point of resisting?
"Marquis Raeven, have you forgotten? We have no room to retreat. From the moment the enemy declared war, we only had two choices."
As he spoke, King Zanac lightly patted the remaining horse's back and urged it to the forefront of the army, drawing his longsword and looking at his hundreds of thousands of soldiers and many nobles.
"The enemy has already appeared, and we only have two choices left. Either we fight with all our might and strive for that faint, almost impossible victory, or we give up resistance and let those undead slaughter us and the people of our kingdom behind us, our parents, children, and relatives!"
At this point, Zanac suddenly raised the longsword in his hand high again, shouting in an almost hysterical voice.
"Tell me, what is your choice? Are you going to be lambs giving up resistance, or are you going to launch an attack against the enemy!"
The angry questioning echoed across the plain, and all the soldiers and nobles stared blankly at the figure in front of them, raising his longsword and issuing the question. That voice, filled with unyielding spirit and anger, gradually erased the fear in their hearts, and the will to fight rose again!
"Very good!"
Zanac looked at the soldiers in front of him, one by one raising their heads, their eyes seemingly burning with flames as they looked at him. A hint of a smile appeared on his fat face, and then he urged the warhorse beneath him to turn around, his eyes fixed on Ainz Ooal Gown in the center of the dazzling magic circles on the opposite side.
"In this war, there is no choice to surrender or retreat. Soldiers, show your courage, and I will lead you to charge together!"
"Ooh!"
"Victory!"
In the next second, earth-shattering cheers rang out. All the soldiers were now staring at the figure in front of them. Just looking at him seemed to fill everyone's heart with strength. Even if the enemies opposite were all undead monsters, they no longer felt any fear or dread.
After all, their King was there, their King was in front, and their King would lead them to charge!
......
"Nothing!"
On the opposite side, Ainz Ooal Gown, who was entirely enveloped in magic circles, was silently watching the Kingdom army with high morale. The two scarlet lights in his empty eye sockets flickered constantly. From the very beginning, he had deliberately used himself as bait, wanting to lure out the 《YGGDRASIL》 players hidden in the royal palace.
After all, in 《YGGDRASIL》, players who wanted to cast Super-Tier Magic would be the first to be targeted for a concentrated attack. But at this moment, even though the fluctuations of Ainz Ooal Gown's Super-Tier Magic were already so obvious, there was still no movement on the opposite side.
“Lu Minghao, what exactly do you want? Or are you not concerned about the kingdom?”
The next second, Ainz Ooal Gown muttered to himself in a voice only he could hear. When he decided to launch a war against the Re-Estize Kingdom, Ainz Ooal Gown thought of Lu Minghao, the 《YGGDRASIL》 player who had forcibly broken into the Great Tomb of Nazarick when he first came to this world.
Originally, Ainz Ooal Gown thought that this war would definitely attract Lu Minghao's attention, and even went so far as to use himself as bait, deliberately showing that he was still preparing the Super-Tier Magic that could be activated instantly with cash shop items.
It was all to lure out Lu Minghao, who might be hiding in the dark planning an attack, but now there was no movement at all.
“In other words, you don’t care about the royal palace at all, so there’s no need to use bait.”
As he said that, Ainz Ooal Gown lowered his head and looked at the hourglass-shaped cash shop item in his hand. This was something he had deliberately prepared for Lu Minghao, but now it was no longer needed.
“How exciting, so exciting!”
The next second, Ainz Ooal Gown raised his head and looked at the opposite side. He saw tens of thousands of Re-Estize Kingdom troops, led by Prince Zanac, launching a charge towards him. The earth-shattering battle cries echoed throughout the entire battlefield.
At the very front of the formation, Ainz Ooal Gown clearly saw Zanac, the king, with his unyielding, dignified, yet courageous eyes. Behind him, countless soldiers showed no fear in their eyes, only an expression of determination to die.
All of this made Ainz Ooal Gown begin to look forward to it. He had to respond, respond to the courage of the opposite side!
“Then let's begin!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the magic circle surrounding Ainz Ooal Gown began to emit a dazzling light. The Re-Estize Kingdom's army was less than a few thousand meters away from him, but Ainz Ooal Gown's heart did not waver in the slightest, only anticipation.
Even knowing that many people would die under his magic, the only thought in his heart was anticipation, anticipating the effect of this magic and the satisfaction of doing so.
Crack!
The next second, a crisp cracking sound rang out from the center of Ainz Ooal Gown's hand. The item that Ainz Ooal Gown was holding in his palm had shattered and slowly disappeared.
“[Tribute to the Dark Young Mother Goat] (Ia Shub-Niggurath)!”
As Ainz Ooal Gown's chant ended, substantial black energy surged out from under him like a tide. Instantly, the soldiers charging the fastest in the front fell to the ground one after another, losing their life force, and Zanac, who was charging at the very front, also fell heavily to the ground.
“What’s going on?”
Zanac, who had just climbed up from the ground, looked at everything in front of him in disbelief. In just a short moment, tens of thousands of soldiers had died silently. Beside him, his warhorse lay there, and behind him was a battlefield littered with corpses.
“Hmm?”
Ainz Ooal Gown, who had easily annihilated tens of thousands of soldiers, suddenly raised his head slightly and looked at Zanac, the only one still alive in the center of the corpses, with a hint of incomprehension in his eyes. He did not expect Zanac to survive his Super-Tier Magic.
“Ainz-sama, should I go and kill him?”
At this time, Albedo on the side raised her head and looked at Ainz Ooal Gown and asked. For a mere human to dare to survive Ainz-sama's magic was simply an insult to Ainz-sama, and he should be completely erased.
“No, Albedo!”
Ainz Ooal Gown raised his hand to stop Albedo, his tone full of anticipation as he looked at Zanac in the center of the war and the many kingdom soldiers not far away.
“My magic isn’t over yet. What comes next is the main event. The gift to the Dark Young Mother Goat will bring a return gift called the 'Children', and they are all very cute children.”
As he said that, Ainz Ooal Gown raised his head and looked at the sky above the battlefield. He saw that the black energy that had killed tens of thousands of soldiers before had condensed into a ball, and was still rapidly expanding, expanding to dozens of meters in just a few seconds, and was falling towards the ground.
Bang!
The next second, a huge roar rang out, and Zanac's body was blown away by the shockwave of the explosion. Just as he was about to fall to the ground, a black figure flashed past and caught him, then turned around and returned to the center of the army without hesitation.
“Your Majesty, are you alright?”
“Yes, thanks to your rescue, Gazef.”
Zanac, who had just been rescued, looked at Gazef, who was looking at him with a worried expression, raised his hand and patted his shoulder to indicate that he was fine, then rode on a warhorse brought by a soldier and looked at the black ball in the center of the battlefield that was as big as a mountain with a grim expression.
The next second, the black ball exploded like a balloon, and countless black, viscous liquids poured out from it, instantly submerging all the corpses on the battlefield. Black energy visible to the naked eye began to rise, accompanied by the wriggling of the black liquid.
“Despair, the curtain is raised!”
On the opposite side, Ainz Ooal Gown looked at everything in front of him, and a cruel voice rang out. At the same time, pitch-black, thick tentacles emerged from the black slime, followed by monsters with pitch-black bodies covered in tentacles and bodies composed entirely of huge heads.
“Baa, baa, baa!”
The next second, a crisp, eerie bleating sound echoed across the entire prairie. Five terrifying monsters nearly a hundred meters tall appeared, with tentacles intertwined and twisted like venomous snakes on their bodies, wantonly whipping everything around them.
“Ha… Hahahaha! Wonderful, this is the highest record. I’m afraid only I can summon five of them. It seems I need to thank their sacrifices!”
Looking at the five huge, twisted monsters, Ainz Ooal Gown laughed excitedly and excitedly, with no pity for the deaths of those humans in his heart at all. Instead, he became more and more excited, and even felt that he should thank them. It was because of their deaths that he could create a new highest record.
“Congratulations!”
“Congratulations, Ainz-sama!”
“As expected of the Supreme Ainz-sama!”
On the side, the Floor Guardians, hearing Ainz Ooal Gown's excited and excited voice, congratulated him from the bottom of their hearts. As for the deaths of humans, they did not care at all, and even felt that it was their supreme honor for mere humans to make Ainz-sama happy with their deaths.
“Thank you, then let the cute little sheep attack!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the bleating of sheep echoed on the battlefield, and five twisted monsters a hundred meters tall launched an attack on the Re-Estize Kingdom army, beginning a war that could be called a massacre, not a war at all.
