In any case, one needed a wide, open space to deploy a large force.
Shalltear was hoping for just that.
“They’re over there. Then, we should begin negotiations now.”
“Of course. We need to work hard so we don’t keep Ainz-sama waiting.”
Over 60000 battle-capable Quagoa were formed up and waiting for the enemy.
Female Quagoa who were not pregnant or bearing children were just as good at fighting as the males, which was how they had managed to mobilize these numbers. Still, despite mustering a force bigger than any in recorded history, Clan Lord Pe Riyuro was not happy at all.
This was far too strange. The cave which contained the Royal Capital had suddenly been wreathed in mist.
What on earth was going on?
The battle-ready troops began lining up, facing the Royal Capital. If the enemy feared their numbers and did not come out, then that would be the best case. Therefore, they took the minimum provisions with them, and left their Dwarven treasures behind. As long as their enemy was not stupid, they would see that there was no point in fighting.
However, someone emerged from the Royal Capital.
One of them was dressed in red armor, and another was a dark-skinned shorty that was not a Dwarf.
According to the ones who had watched the encounter with the Dragon outside the Royal Capital, there should have been two more, but they did not see them. They must have been grabbing treasure, while these two were buying time for them.
“In any case, just to confirm, that is not a Golem right?”
“Yes, it’s not a Golem.”
According to Yozu, the Golems were tall of stature and wore black armor. So that suit of red armor was something else. However─
Perhaps that’s a type of Golem. It might be better to think of it that way. Still, why did they come out to face an army in the tens of thousands head-on? Is it because they’re confident of killing us all ─ No way, it can’t be. That’s impossible.
Riyuro shook his head to disperse the horrific image that had appeared within it.
He could guess that the opposition possessed unimaginable power, given that they had created this bizarre dimension. The fact that they could make a Dragon prostrate before them without a fight also suggested they were very strong.
Still, his side numbered over 60’000. It was completely incomparable to having only hundreds or thousands of people. There was no way to fight this many opponents.
However, if they were Golems, then it was understandable.
Golems did not tire like living beings. They could fight forever, and if they were strong enough to defeat Riyuro, then they could theoretically kill everyone here.
Still, that was merely theoretical.
Even if only one out of several Quagoa dealt damage through a lucky hit, over the course of thousands of rounds of fighting, the accumulated scratch damage would result in injuries that could take the enemy out of commission.
Numbers were strength. With his army of 60000, as long as they fought on the ground, they should even be able to slay a Dragon Lord.
“─I’ll go talk to these people. You wait here. If I’m killed… Well, do as you please.”
“It’s too risky,” one of his advisers said, stating the obvious.
“…We can’t talk to Golems, so I’ll talk to the one beside it. It would be bad if we didn’t find out their objective, at least.”
In any case, Riyuro was determined to attempt a dialogue.
The enemy must be strong. That being the case, he would ask them their objective. If they could be reasoned with, then he would not mind paying a certain price. If they could chase off the Dragon Lord, then acknowledging them as their new masters would also be fine. Even if that was impossible, he could pay them more than the Dwarves did in exchange for switching sides.
“Nobody must follow me. If a lot of us come at once, it might trigger hostilities.”
Without saying anything more to his aides, Riyuro stepped forth.
His troops parted on both sides of him, and the opposition seemed to have noticed that someone was coming. He could see the enemy had stopped to observe his movements.
“Sorry for the wait.”
Riyuro was the first to speak, and his voice made the enemies look at each other.
He looked around. As expected, there was nobody else around. There were two other people from that face-off with the Dragon ─ the Dwarf and the skull-helmeted chap ─ neither of which was here.
“Hm? Who’re you?” the dark-skinned shorty replied.
It would seem the red-armored one was a Golem. It seemed paler and taller than the humanoid next to it. Still, at a glance, there was no telling that it was an artificial being ─ it looked very realistic.
“I am Pe Riyuro, Lord of the Quagoa Clans who live in this place. And you ─ who might you be?”
“We are under orders from the Supreme Overlord who has come to this land in order to rule you.”
It spoke!
The red-armored one spoke. Since he heard that Golems could not speak, it was obviously not a Golem.
Trying to hide his consternation, Riyuro replied:
“Rule?”
“Correct. Our Lord has come to subjugate you. Bend the knee and bow before him.”
Then, what should I do? Riyuro thought fast.
He did not mind bowing and welcoming a new ruler. All they needed to do was grow strong beneath that ruler and then overthrow them.
The problem was that they could not submit to the opposition without knowing their power. They might have made that Dragon kneel before them, but that Dragon was not the Dragon Lord. For all he knew, after bending the knee, they might be made to fight the Dragon Lord.
“…There should be two more of you. What happened to them?”
“You do not need to know. You are only allowed to say if you accept our rule or not.”
They were not revealing anything to him. That would mean that investigating the enemy’s intentions ─ whether or not they truly intended to fight in earnest ─ was very important.
“…You say you want to rule us. However, it is very difficult for us to accept your proposal without knowing your strength. Does that make sense to you?”
In other words, he was implying that “if you tell me how strong you are, I don’t mind being ruled by you.” However, the two of them merely looked at each other and shrugged.
“Is that so. Our orders state that if you will not accept our rule, we are to reduce your numbers until you are forced to bend the knee. After that, you are to kill yourselves until there are only 4000 males, 4000 females and 2000 children left. You should be able to differentiate who is more valuable, am I correct?”
“Then, once there are only 10000 of you left, we will take you back to our country, the Sorcerous Kingdom, where you will be put to work.”
Fear coursed through the Clan Lord for an instant.
It was not because of the cruel content of the message. It was because they had delivered it in a matter-of-fact tone that was completely devoid of arrogance.
He felt that these two people could actually do it.
Yes.
These two people could kill an army of over 60’000.
Were they mad? Were they overconfident? Or ─
That unbelievable attitude left Riyuro at a loss for what to do next.
They could not listen to such insane orders without so much as a fight.
Perhaps they had sensed the hostile intent from his side, but the two of them looked at each other, and their faces twisted into grins.
The Dwarves were hairy, so he could understand them. These two people had no hair except on the tops of their heads, so he could not read their expressions. Such was the gulf between two different species.