The great mass of soldiers continued charging without ever looking back, and they were cut down to half their previous number with such swiftness that hardly anyone could believe it.
At this point, nobody had the strength to speak.
The fact that this tragedy was unfolding before them and it was the doing of one person traumatized their hearts.
All except for one person.
That person ─ Riyuro ─ scraped up the last of his courage.
“You chosen heroes!”
He could not raise his voice.
Riyuro saw the Red and Blue Quagoa before him, as well as the other Quagoa with special abilities, all of whom had been formed up into the strongest combat units of the clans.
The reason why none of them responded to Riyuro’s cry was because they were all watching that suit of red armor with despair in their eyes.
They too must have felt that they had no hope of victory. When they had first been gathered, their eyes had shone, but now there was no light in their eyes, as though they were dead.
He had chosen not to drive them berserk to preserve their defensive strength, but it had been the wrong decision.
The Clan Lord raised his voice to try and psyche them up.
“You are our ace in the hole! The enemy has killed many of our comrades, so it should be tired! You will be able to make it suffer!”
It ought to be tired ─ he said that, but there was no sign of it. That red suit of armor showed no signs of stopping as it cut every single Quagoa which charged it to pieces and sent the chunks flying into the air, swinging and thrusting its strange lance-like weapon without end.
“That’s right! No matter what, it’s living, so it’ll get tired! You can do it! Go! Our heroes!”
WIth a prayer in his heart, Riyuro sent out those heroes.
He gave his men orders to clear the path to the red suit of armor. Then, the heroes would assault the red armor─
─Riyuro closed his eyes.
“My, my Lord… Mighty Clan Lord of us all…”
After hearing his aides’ trembling voices, he slowly opened his eyes.
“You… you don’t need to say anything. I know. I, I saw it too…”
Nothing had changed. That was right. It had made no difference.
Just like the regular soldiers, the chosen heroes had been chopped into mincemeat and sent flying as lumps of flesh. And it had all happened in an instant. They had met the same end as the regular soldiers.
“…So… so…”
Riyuro could not say anything else. Although he did not know what that red suit of armor was, it was something which was undoubtedly stronger than a Dragon.
Riyuro could no longer feel anything. If he simply waited quietly for time to pass, the outcome would be as the enemy willed it.
“…said they wanted 2000 children. Pick out that amount.”
“My Lord…:
“…There’s nothing else we can do. Even if there’s only 10000 of us, as long as we survive, someday… someday, we can make the Quagoa great again…”
Nobody could say anything in the face of Riyuro’s words. That was because everyone clearly understood in their hearts.
They understood that there was nothing else they could do.
Riyuro’s head drooped powerlessly. It was as though he had been walking in a safe place, and then suddenly ambushed by a monster..
“Speaking of which, what is the Sorcerous Kingdom, anyway? Does it have anything to do with the Dwarves? Someone please tell me…”
His muttering came straight from the heart.
However much he tried to deny it, the carnage before his eyes gave him the feeling that an even greater tragedy would soon come.
Suddenly, he saw his Quagoa servants holding cages, Those were the cages used for storing food lizards. Riyuro knew that now was not the time for this, but the stress on him made him reach out to the cage. He grabbed a live lizard, but just as he was about to bite its head off, an intense pain coursed through his belly, bending his body into a ㄑshape.
There was no way he could beat the absolute ruler who would soon subjugate his race. The idea of flourishing again was so outlandish that even he had nothing to say in its defense. No matter how many generations passed, they would never be able to rise up in revolt. The Quagoa of the Azellisia Mountain Range would forever wear collars in service to their dreaded master.
The wildly-thrashing lizard slipped from Riyuro’s hands and vanished between his men’s legs. Riyuro went “ahh” in what was more a sigh than a shout, and then he collapsed into silent sobbing from sheer misery.
“If you were that strong, you should have said so in the first place! Why, why didn’t you tell me!”
The whimpering of the Quagoa Lord, hailed by his people as the greatest ruler in their history, blended with the screams of the children as his own soldiers butchered them.
5
Ainz and Gondo left the treasury together. A flight of Dragons bowed their heads before them. There were 19 of them in total, including Hejinmal.
In other words, all the Dragons Hejinmal had mentioned were here. Now there would be no need to hunt them down.
…It’s good that they’re all being obedient, but it’s a shame that I don’t have more Dragon corpses… Should I find some excuse to kill a few more? No, that would be evil. Then why not let them breed and then harvest them later… hm? Isn’t that the same thing?
“─Most Exalted Sorcerer King. Your faithful servants have gathered before you.”
Hejinmal spoke as Ainz was thinking. Putting aside his contemplations for the moment, Ainz replied:
“Raise your heads.”
The kneeling Dragons raised their heads as one.
Due to the massive size of their bodies, they were far taller than Ainz once they rose, but there was no sense of them looking down on him.
However, there were a few surprised looks among them.
They had heard about it, but it was still hard to believe that Ainz had slain the Dragon Lord, their father. Or rather, even Ainz would think the same thing if he were in their shoes. There were many things which had to be seen to be believed.
Just as Ainz was thinking that, one of the Dragons roared.
“I won’t accept this! To think the person who killed Father is actually ─ what?”
Ainz walked in front of the roaring Dragon. Then he smiled, and beckoned with his hand, as though to say “Give it your best shot.”
The Dragon swiped its claws at Ainz.
They were fast, but not as fast as the Troll he had fought recently.
Ainz did not dodge them. He took the Dragon’s attack head-on. The Dragon — who thought Ainz could not evade in time — grinned broadly, but when he realized that Ainz had no need to dodge, that grin froze on his face. After making sure that the Dragon knew that, Ainz cast a spell.
“[Grasp Heart].”
Ainz’s gaze moved from the Dragon who had collapsed like his father, and turned to the others.
“Is there no one else?”
After that quiet query, the Dragons were bowed even lower than they had been earlier, as though they were trying to lie flat on the ground. Nobody here doubted Ainz’s power any more.
Ainz opened a [Gate] and chucked the Dragon’s corpse through it. Then he took Gondo and got onto Hejinmal’s back.
His mother’s back was larger, so mounting would be more suitable for a ruler than taking Hejinmal.
However, Ainz had already ridden Hejinmal all the way here, so he might as well ride him the rest of the way.
“Leave this city. My subordinates should be waiting there.”
The Dragon flight took wing in unison, and the Hanzos led them to a place where many Quagoa were kneeling down.