Rumors of the Sorcerer King being able to kill entire armies with a single spell had long since reached the capital, and not a single soul was unconvinced that these clouds were the first part of a spell that would wipe them all out.
Finally, a thundering sound rang out from the clouds as something began to fall down upon the city. Screams could be heard from every part of the capital as many fled into their homes and began to cower under their beds or in their cellars praying to whatever they believed in at the moment in hopes of surviving the worst possible outcome. The only ones still on the streets were the knights, guards and paladins who were honor bound to stay and protect the citizens.
As such, they were the only ones who saw what fell from the sky was none other than…
"Rain?"
One of the guards in charge of guarding the main gate could but utter this one word. What had fallen from the sky was indeed nothing more than rain. It began to steadily pour from the sky and into the city as many of the guards were beginning to get quite soaked from the unrelenting downpour.
Not a single guard could understand what was going on here. They had been expecting some kind of monster to emerge from the skies or maybe they would be subjected to death just like the soldiers of the Kingdom had on Katze Plains, but instead it just began to rain.
None of the soldiers had any idea why the Sorcerer King had decided to summon rain on top of them. It was an unpleasant feeling to have the water pour down upon oneself like it did, but it was hardly comparable to death. At the most, it caused them to be a bit confused as to what the enemy's plans were.
The guard captain who presided over guarding the main gate could but stare at the pitch-black sky and wonder what would happen next. To assume that this was ordinary rain would be foolish. Just as he was about to walk back to his private station to report the situation to the higher ups from the Windflower Scripture, he noticed that his steps felt heavier for some reason.
Now that he thought about it, his entire body began to feel weird as a dizzy spell overcame him along with a sickening feeling in the stomach. Only now did the guard begin to notice that everyone around him was likewise feeling dizzy and sick as some already began to show signs of losing consciousness. Feeling that the sickness was getting worse, the guard captain bent over as he felt the urge to vomit rise up from within him. It was then that he finally began to understand the reason why he felt so weakened and ill.
As the rain touched the ground of the capital, it caused a strange reaction as the earth and stone upon which the rain fell darkened in color and seemed to almost rot away as the rain corrupted every patch of ground upon which it fell.
This would have been strange but not dangerous were it not for another of the rain's properties. As the ground darkened from the downpour, a strange green fog began to rise from the desecrated ground. Too late did the guards and knights realise that exposure to this fog was poisonous. Every one of them had been so fixed on the sky as they anticipated some kind of malicious attack to come from within the clouds, not realising that the true terror lay within the seemingly simple rain that poured from them.
The effects of the fog began to show themselves as the soldiers and guards that had been exposed to its vapor began to fall to the ground like puppets with their strings cut. Many of them were either already unconscious or were in the process of vomiting blood as their intestines felt like they were bursting apart. In the span of mere minutes, several thousand guards, soldiers, and even combat priests and paladins had fallen victim to the fog's poison.
All over the once bustling city now lay corpses of soldiers, priests, and other peacekeepers. The death toll was already well in the thousands as most of the capital's regiment had been decimated to but a fraction of what it once was, still shrinking as time went on.
Over at where Ainz and his group stood, Ainz has just finished explaining what was currently happening inside the city. It was not difficult to imagine what Roune and his group's inner thoughts were despite their faces having a neutral or even slightly joyous expressions. No matter the day or age, anyone that came in contact with chemical weapons of mass destruction like Ainz's spell would inwardly cower in fear. It was already quite commendable for Roune and his group that they had not tried to flee in terror like the Imperial army had at Katze Plains.
"The Sorcerer King's magic is indeed without match. To think with just one spell the entire city has now become a hazardous zone where life cannot exist for a long period of time. With this, it won't be long before all of the citizens that angered his majesty will succumb to the poison and die."
Roune managed to put up a brave front and even complement the skeletal figure with a fake smile on his face. Even he himself thought that it was marvelling how he managed to keep his cool, never mind the people behind him.
Hearing his praise, Ainz gazed towards the city as he responded with a slight chuckle in his voice.
"All the citizens? I'm afraid you may be mistaken there, Vamilinen-dono. While it is true that this spell's deadliness lies in the poisonous properties of the fog it creates when the rain touches the ground's surface, the real danger lies in what comes after its first victims meet their end."
Roune and his group looked with even greater fear as they did not take this being's words lightly. If death by poison was only the beginning, then what on earth could be more devastating still?
Inside the city at this moment, the streets were both almost completely deserted and yet there were sometimes dozens of corpses lying on the ground. As soon as the guards began to notice the effects, they barricaded themselves in their posts in hopes of surviving the poisonous fog.
By now, the only ones that were still on the streets were the elite holy corps of the Slane Theocracy's divine-type magic casters, the paladin guardians. When they noticed the fog's poisonous effects, they naturally did not hesitate for a second as they activated various protective spells and charms that shielded them from poison. Most of them had already been sent away with the other five Archbishops and another part had been guarding the treasury until Ainz and his group came in and exterminated all of them. Despite all of this, there were still approximately fifty paladin guardians that had managed to shield themselves.
As they walked mostly alone or in groups of two or three around the capital, they were all without exception at a loss of what to do next. The relatively best plan of action was to go either to the wall and observe both the city and its outside from a higher vantage point to get a grasp of the situation or go back to their headquarters in hopes of receiving orders on what to do. Both seemed silly. Even if they got a grasp of the situation, there was hardly something that they could do to change it. At this moment, if the enemy had an army of a thousand regular warriors, he could easily take this city down. And it was not like their superiors would have any plan to change it.
As most either looked around or were heading to what they thought was the best place to reform, they all suddenly noticed something almost simultaneously. Each of them had been exceptionally well trained to detect when something was amiss as their prime function was to protect the nation's VIPs, but it took them awhile to understand what exactly felt of.
"Movement?"
Not all of the paladins could quite put their finger on it at first, but the sense that they felt right now was as if something in their direct vicinity was moving. Too late did they realise what exactly was moving.