“Is it? What if they had flying beasts, or a secret army of some kind?”
“Still not likely. It’s very difficult to take control of a city with a small number of men… Speaking of which, Gazef-dono. Do you know the condition required to successfully conquer E-Rantel?”
Gazef shook his head.
“One needs to face the Kingdom in open battle and gain an overwhelming victory. If the aggressors barely manage to triumph, governing the conquered populace will be difficult, to say the least. The citizens won’t respond well to the invaders and will rise up in revolt whenever possible. So even if the Empire used a separate force to attack E-Rantel, as long as our soldiers have their strength, they would immediately fight tooth and nail to take back their city. As such, the Empire needs a total victory. With that, the citizens will be frightened into abject submission, and the soldiers won’t be able to take action.”
In other words, the Empire had to win here. In addition, they had to achieve a victory so complete and absolute, that the Kingdom would not risk trying to take back E-Rantel.
Suddenly, Gazef had the feeling that he had all the pieces of the puzzle. However, putting them together was beyond him.
A dull annoyance tormented Gazef.
“What’s wrong, Gazef-dono?
“No…”
Gazef wanted to tell Raeven about the scattered pieces of the puzzle that he’d managed to sweep together in his head. He believed that Raeven, with his superior intellect, could extract insights from them that he could not. However, at that moment, the Marquis’ eye turned back to the Imperial formation.
“Gazef-dono. It seems they’re making their move.”
The Imperial army parted in two. As Gazef was wondering if they were planning to attack the left and right wings of the Kingdom’s army, he saw an unfamiliar flag rising into the air.
It was a flag that Gazef had never seen before, adorned with a bizarre crest that belonged to neither the Kingdom or the Empire. The company raising the flag advanced.
All eyes were on that company.
And then… Gazef’s heart ran cold with terror. Raeven, who was standing beside him and saw the same thing he did, swallowed loudly. Knowing that he was not alone in his feelings, bitterness began rising at the back of his mouth, and his heart pounded madly.
A monstrous regiment.
What appeared was a group of roughly five hundred riders. It seemed entirely insignificant compared to the two armies facing each other down.
But those knights… they were highly unusual. They seemed to radiate an oppressive air that he could feel even from so far away.
It stirred up Gazef’s memories from his time in Carne Village. Ainz had said it was a knight he had created, but it was actually a monster. There were roughly two hundred of them, carrying gigantic shields and wearing spiked armor like he remembered from back then.
The rest were similarly inhuman soldiers, but they wore leather armor, and they were armed with axes, pikes, crossbows or similar weapons.
If the former were knights, then the latter could be called warriors.
But whatever they were, they were not human. They were monsters, down to the marrow of their bones.
Then, there were the creatures they rode. They were beasts made of bone, with tendrils of fog replacing their flesh and blood. The fog sparkled everywhere, pus yellow and emerald green.
Goosebumps sprouted all over his body.
This was bad.
This was very bad.
Gazef simply didn’t have the words to describe the situation more clearly than this.
“…the Empire has enlisted monsters into their ranks, it seems. This is quite surprising. It’s made me break out in goosebumps.”
“…No. No, Marquis Raeven. That’s not the case. What the Marquis feels now… what fills your body with said goosebumps… is definitely not surprise.”
“Then what would that be?”
Gazef curtly answered Raeven, who seemed completely lost for words.
“Death. The fear of death, that swells within everything that lives.”
Turning his eyes from the visibly shaken Raeven, Gazef looked at the Imperial Army.
“The horses are shying. Even these trained, hardened warhorses can’t bring themselves to advance against that fear.”
“…What are they? A secret division of the Empire?”
“…Impossible. Those monsters are not things that humans can control, let alone use!”
Gazef knew nothing about the true identity of these monsters, but his warrior’s instinct supplied enough information for him to speak conclusively.
“They… they must be the knights of Ainz Ooal Gown!”
“Is that… the army of the magic caster you feared?!”
“Marquis Raeven! Please gather the former adventurers immediately! In order to plan our next move, we need to borrow the experience of those who’ve battled many monsters and survived!”
“Un-”
He wanted to reply that he understood, but before that, his bodyguards had already sprung into action. However, that was only expected. They knew the threat they faced better than Gazef did.
“Marquis!”
The former adventurers rode over on horseback.
“Did you see it? Do you feel it?”
At the front of the adventurers was their leader, a paladin of the Fire God, Boris Axelson.
Within his voice was a thrill of fear he could not hide.
Raeven could not speak. Gazef understood why.
Murmurs of disquiet were rising up from the adventurers, and the massed armies gathered here.
This was no longer a time for etiquette. Gazef spoke to him.
“—Tell me! What is that? No need to greet me! Please tell me everything you know, now!!”
Boris clutched the holy symbol that dangled around his neck. It was a gesture of warding.
“…We can’t be sure, but we believe the creatures they ride are legendary monsters known as Soul Eaters. They are undead creatures that hunger for the souls of the living. According to the tales, they once appeared to ravage a city of the Beastmen Kingdoms.”
“Then… how many casualties were there?”
In the silence that followed, Boris’ quiet words carried a long, long way.
“—One hundred thousand.”
The breath caught in Gazef’s throat.
“…A mere three Soul Eaters devastated the entire city they appeared in. Ninety-five percent of the people who lived there, over one hundred thousand people, were killed. It was abandoned and entered legend as the Silent City.”
A heavy silence fell on the group.
“…And there’s five hundred of them out there?”
Nobody could muster up the strength to answer Raeven.