“『...Stab yourself in the throat with your swords.』”
There was a choked gurgle.
A look of bafflement appeared in the eyes of the man who had just pierced his own throat with the blades he held. His eyes clouded over like marbles as he collapsed to the ground.
Pained cries rose from the wall.
Demiurge turned, walked over to the man’s side, and picked him up by the collar with a single hooked index finger before returning to his formation.
After he returned to his lines, the representatives of the various tribes — not their leaders — gathered before him.
Demiurge had mentally divided the demihumans into two groups.
One kind craved fresh blood and viewed humans as food. They would obey the strong, and they gladly obeyed Demiurge’s commands. The other kind were those who had been made to kneel before the terror of Demiurge, and they obeyed him due to negative inducements like fear.
Demiurge had selected a group of the latter kind.
“You took your time in assembling.”
Saying so, he seized the shoulder of a random demihuman he had selected from the group. Its species was known as Zerns. After doing so, he ripped the skin from its shoulder.
While Demiurge was among the weaker Floor Guardians, he could still do that much.
The demihuman whose skin — and some of its flesh — had been ripped off collapsed to the ground in intense agony, shrieking wordlessly.
“Now then, begin the attack. Take care not to sustain too many losses. The main course begins after we get past this wall,” Demiurge said in a gentle tone.
His kindness was genuine when it was directed to his fellow denizens of Nazarick. He was a very gentle person when it came to his friends. However, to everyone else, his kindness was merely the care he gave to his tools.
After receiving his orders, the demihumans ran back to their various tribes. The demihuman rolling around on the ground was no exception.
The message they bore was that those who obeyed Demiurge’s orders and achieved good results would meet a happy fate. Naturally, they also carried the message that achieving the opposite results meant that their future would be anything but happy.
Demiurge smiled gently as he watched the receding backs of the beastmen.
“—Then, let us begin the next step of our plan. —Demons.”
Demiurge activated one of his skills and summoned a vast quantity of the demons he intended to use as sacrificial pawns.
While these demons were extremely weak compared to Demiurge, summoning stronger demons would mean he could not summon as many. The important thing in this operation was to spread the word that the Holy Kingdom’s army had been assaulted by demons, which meant that quantity was the priority here.
“Listen carefully now. Support the demihumans in their efforts. Also, limit your pursuit of the humans. Do not do something as foolish as not allowing a single one to flee the fortress.”
The low ranked demons nodded, and soared into the sky as one.
While summoned monsters were supposed to know a portion of what their summoner knew, said information was generally quite vague.. It would be best to regard it as the ability to tell friend from foe. Therefore, it was important to give verbal commands to summoned creatures.
Now then… it would be good if the ball landed on target.
Demiurge’s perspicacious mind pondered all manner of situations, and after computing dozens of eventualities, he made the appropriate corrections to achieve his aim. Slight deviations were within his predictions. However, there were times when utter fools would lead to situations developing beyond their expectations.
Surely someone with Ainz-sama’s intellect could even predict the actions of fools… I’m still a long way off. Come to think of it, it would be good if I could share this with Ainz-sama...
As he thought that, Demiurge’s heart raced unbidden. He had spent a great deal of time preparing this stage; if he could not even share it with his supreme master, what would Demiurge do?
Ladies and gentlemen of the Holy Kingdom, I have a sincere wish. Please allow Ainz-sama to enjoy himself with your suffering forms. … Although, how will Ainz-sama adjust my plans for a better outcome?
Like a student waiting for a respected teacher to dispense instruction, Demiurge smiled as his heart filled with the fires of anticipation and excitement.
Oh, to learn from Ainz-sama’s actions, progress towards a better self, and further deepen my loyalty. How wonderful it is!
To Demiurge, who had been born to serve the Supreme Beings, nothing was more delightful than giving his all for his master.
“Ahhh, this is truly marvelous…”
Part 3
The news of a demihuman alliance — one that comprised a massive army — crushing the strongest central fortress and its vast quantities of soldiers, then subsequently crossing the wall, had already begun spreading throughout the Holy Kingdom.
The leader of the demihuman alliance was called the Demon Emperor Jaldabaoth.
He was a demon who had caused great havoc in the Kingdom, and he had used powerful magic to shred the wall like tissue paper.
The demihuman alliance was made up of eighteen species, and their numbers were estimated in excess of one hundred thousand. This army of demihumans was now focused on destroying the walls and fortifications, and their advance had ground to a halt.
After learning this, the leader of the Holy Kingdom — the Holy Queen — issued a general mobilization order to the entire nation.
Since the Holy Kingdom’s territory was stretched around the northern and southern edges of a central bay, any mobilized forces would naturally be formed into two armies — the Northern Holy Kingdom Army and the Southern Holy Kingdom Army.
The armies each moved towards their own important locations — the city of Kalinsha in the north, and the city of Debonei in the south — where they spied on the enemy’s movements for several days.
The reports they received from the troops observing the wall made the situation even more pressing.
—The demihuman alliance, in all its strength, was moving west—
—They would reach the northern fortress city of Kalinsha in a few days—
“Really now? So this place is going to become a battlefield after all…”
The speaker was the Holy Queen, Calca Bessarez.
Due to her low place in the order of succession — only males had inherited the Holy Kingdom until now — she should never have taken the position of Holy Queen. However, due to two qualities she had, the crown had eventually been placed upon her brow.
The first was her beautiful looks. Her face was as beautiful as a freshly-bloomed flower, filled with cuteness and dignity, and it was praised as “the treasure of Roble,” while her radiant, vibrant long hair was like threads of spun gold. Since it resembled an angel’s halo, many who saw her gentle smile went on to describe her as a saint.
The other quality was her excellence as a divine magic caster. She was a genius who could use fourth tier spells at the tender age of fifteen, and she had ascended to the throne with the firm backing of the previous Holy King and the temples.
Almost ten years had passed since then, while certain voices disapproved of her excessive kindness, she had not made any mistakes which could be considered critical and thus she had ruled the Holy Kingdom to this day. However, this rule was not solid, and embers smoldered out of sight.
“I understand your sadness, Calca-sama, but the people who live in Kalinsha do so because they have prepared themselves for a day like this. In the past, there was also... ahem, that battle, where this city was the heart of the fighting. That’s why the walls here are even taller and sturdier than anywhere else.”