Led by that voice, the lizardmen felt some sort of energy surging into their body.
“Feel it! Feel the strength bestowed onto you by the ancestors of the five tribes!”
All the lizardmen present definitely felt it.
They felt that surging power. The feeling of their hot blood flowing washed away all their unease, their body started heating up as if they just drunk alcohol.
This could be taken as the best proof of their ancestors descending.
Crusch looked away from the revel faces of the lizardmen and nodded to Shasuryu.
“Lend me your ears, lizardmen. The ancestors have descended onto us. We cannot match the enemy in numbers, but will we lose?”
“No!”
The lizardmen intoxicated in the atmosphere responded to Shasuryu in unison, shaking the very air.
“That’s right! With the ancestors upon us, it is impossible for us to lose! Defeat the enemy, and present victory to our ancestors!”
“Warrghh!”
The lizardmen were in high spirits, no one felt uneasy anymore. There were only lizardmen who had morphed into warriors as they headed toward the battle that was upon them.
They were not charmed by magic. Even with so many druids, there was no way they could spare the energy before battle to cast such magic on all the gathered lizardmen.
This was just the effect of the special drink that was given to all lizardmen before the ceremony.
It was a beverage that grants courage, passed down from previous generations of lizardmen. It was brewed from a special herb that made the lizardmen felt intoxicated, happy and saw illusions for a short period of time.
Crusch’s speech was just buying time for the herb to take effect.
Once the truth was known, it wasn’t much. But for those who saw the effects with their own eyes— the lizardmen who witness the ancestors descending, it was a ritual that brought out the courage in them.
“Well then, we will hand out the paint to everyone. It used to be one colour for each tribe, but right now the ancestors from all five tribes are among us, so use all the colours to paint yourself!”
Several druids carried pots and walked through the lizardmen crowd.
The lizardmen took paint from the pot and started drawing war paint on themselves. They believe these were the drawing of the ancestors who had descended onto them, so they allowed their fingers to move freely, painting patterns on their body.
With the ancestors from all five tribes descending onto them, many of the lizardmen covered their whole body with paint. But the lizardmen from ‘Green Claw’ didn’t draw many war paints on themselves. This was because Zaryusu, Shasuryu and the elites of the tribes didn’t draw any. In a way, this was like fans imitating their idol.
After surveying the crowd and confirming that everyone had finished, Shasuryu drew his greatsword and pointed at the main gate.
“Move out!”
“Wargghhh!!”
Countless roars shook the surrounding.
Part 3
The forces of the Great Tomb of Nazarick were roughly divided in two and deployed onto the wetlands.
From the view of the lizardmen, the zombies were on the left while the skeletons were on the right. Skeleton archers and riders were positioned behind the skeletons.
Undead beasts were situated behind as the core of the army.
The lizardmen army had a smaller force and were divided into two groups as well. Facing the zombies were female lizardmen and hunters, while the warriors and male lizardmen were set against the skeletons. The Druids were placed inside the village protected by walls.
The lizardmen formed up outside the village because there was nothing to be gained from a defensive battle. They had no incoming reinforcement and the walls weren’t really sturdy. On the other hand, the undead army didn’t require any provisions or rest.
With such a disadvantageous position, a defensive siege battle would be foolish.
But after both sides set up formation, the difference in numbers was clearly shown.
One lizardman had to fight against three, ten against thirty, the ratio remained the same. But the difference was prominent when it was a thousand against three thousand. Just lining up three thousand undead was highly intimidating.
Even so, the lizardmen did not show any fear. With their ancestors descended amongst them, numbers were not a problem.
Moments later, the undead army started advancing slowly. The first to move were the zombies and the skeletons. The skeleton archers and riders remained in place, therefore they were probably conserving their forces.
The lizardmen army started their march too.
“Warrrggghh!”
Deafening roars covered the entire wetlands, followed by the splashing of water. The mud flew everywhere and the water splashed.
The two armies continued their advance and were about to clash mightily. At this moment, something happened to the forces of Nazarick.
Although the zombies and skeleton moved forth at the same time, their pace was different. This was because the zombies were slow and stiff while the skeletons were agile and fast. Most important of all, they were in the wetlands which affected mobility.
The movements of the stiff zombies were obstructed by the mud, slowing them down. But the light skeletons were not affected much.
Hence, the first to clash were the skeletons and the lizardmen warriors.
The lizardmen did not have any formation, simply charging ahead to engage the enemy, with no stratagem to speak of.
Leading the way were the five warrior captains from each of the tribes. For the commanders to be in the frontlines could be considered foolish in some ways. But they were the highest ranking combatants, so the morale of the lizardmen would plummet if they didn’t led from the front. Thanks to their effort, all the lizardmen were highly motivated.
Right behind them were the 89 ‘Razor Tail’ heavy armor warriors. Wearing leather armors and shields, this group had the highest defence among all the tribes.
With their shields raised, they formed a wall that was charging into the skeleton army.
An intense collision— the vanguards of the warriors and the warriors smashed into each other.
In that instant, countless bones flew everywhere as the lizardmen unit crashed a hole into the skeleton formation.
Angry roars accompanied the cracking sound of bones. There were occasional moans of pain, but the bone cracking sounds were overwhelmingly louder.
The lizardmen gained a staggering advantage in the first clash.
If it were a human army instead, the result would be reversed.
Because the skeletons were made up of bones, piercing weapons were ineffective and they had resistance towards slashing attacks too. Hence, for the human army with swords as their primary weapon, it would be difficult to deal effective damage against the skeletons.
Because of their blunt weapons such as maces and warhammers, the lizardmen completely gained the upper hand. The bane of skeletons were blunt weapons.
Whenever a lizardmen swung the weapon in their hand, the bones of the skeletons shattered easily. Even if they survived one hit, they would be crushed in the next attack. On the other hand, whenever the skeletons attacked with their rusty swords, it got deflected from the tough scaly skin of the lizardmen. Some of them were hurt, but no one suffered mortal wounds.
The very first clash.
The shattered bones of five hundred skeletons littered the wetlands just like that.
The image reflected in the mirror stunned Cocytus.
It was just the initial clash, but the combat prowess of the lizardmen were beyond his imagination. Cocytus was an excellent warrior and could judge how good his opponent was to a certain extent. The skeletons were behind the lizardmen in single combat. But they should be able to make up for it with their numbers.