"Close Shalltear, but you need to think more if you want this ball," Dracula said while dodging Shalltear who jumped towards him, trying to get the ball. roaring the sky, Shalltear who was in a Blood Frenzy exploded forward but I dodged once more, but she didn't jump towards Dracula, but jumped towards her right. A ball appeared in her hands, while Dracula appeared looking towards her with a smile.
Shalltear breathed heavily, as she fell to one knee. She wasn't tired, but this training was pushing her mentally.
"great woke... now you can enter a blood frenzy while targeting where all that uncontrolled power goes," I said with a smile Shalltear fell on her back while looking at the ball. she looked at it for some time before she smiled while tears filled her eyes.
"I did it... I did it." Shalltear screamed, joy filling her voice. Dracula just smiled upon seeing this. but the next moment, his eyebrow raised when he heard someone crying. looking over, he saw his maid in tears, moved by the scene before her.
Who didn't know that Shalltear was being punished? although all of the NPC secretly knew that her punishment was just her training. many secretly came to watch Shalltear try her best to get the ball, for a whole month, she tried, never once giving up and determined to prove herself. This moved everyone, and were all secretly cheering for her success
"Well, let's go take a brake. it should be morning right? let's go get something to eat." I said with a smile, Shalltear's eyes widened for a moment, but she nodded while trying her best to avoid crying at her lord's kindness.
"My lord, someone of your stature can't eat with us." The maid hearing my words panicked and quickly ran up while listing her dress. on the 9th floor was the Staff Canteen, which is where the maids of Nazarick gather for meals.
"No need, I'm still trying to remember the hundreds of rooms in the great tomb of Nazarick. Pius, I don't remember everyone who was created. so spending some time with you all would be great." I said with a smile, to which the maid could say nothing else. truly, the supreme being was too good for them.
'Lord Dracula, as you asked. Sir Cocytus is about to attack the lizard man.' A voice enters Dracula's head through a message, causing him to freeze in his footsteps for a moment. to learn, I wanted to see Dracula leading an army of undead to attack the undead, so hearing this I nodded slightly.
"Change of plans, Cocytus is about to attack the lizard man village. plus, go on ahead. I shall join you later." I said with a smile, to which Shalltear shook her head.
"I shall follow lord Dracula." She said with a smile, she was a vampire. she didn't need food. the maid on the other hand time was up, a new maid would be replacing her soon. so she said her bowed before leaving, although she was unwilling. how could she not want to stay with the supreme being?
Anyways, Dracula disappeared with Shalltear, appearing where Cocytus was sitting, facing a mirror that was showing him the lizard man village. Cocytus quickly stopped to greet me, but I stopped him.
"ignore us. I came to only watch. I do not know about leading an army. I never had to pick up such knowledge. Act as if I'm not here," I said with a smile, Coctyus nodded slightly. and with flames burning in his eyes, he looked towards the mirror.
'He didn't gather information. isn't gathering the enemy information the basic? look at the strengths and the weaknesses of your enemy. It's like fighting, knowledge is key. feed your enemy false information. information is the key to war, the same for battle.' I thought calmly watching Cocytus using a scroll to order the undead to attack.
'I would start with the weaker undead... wait, we are fighting on their land. then again, I don't know the army's strength. Cocytus seems to not the army well. how could you win with power you have no idea of? it's like Rubedo, all that power without the skill to know it. you leading an army you have no clue of, against an enemy whose strength you have no clue off and their ground.' I thought while frowning slightly.
'you're just stepping them to go forward and attack, your deeper meaning to it. he would lose... to think fighting and waring was so similar.' I thought calmly while looking at Cocytus just telling the undead to attack.
'It's 3 to 1,. I would have hid that from them. trick them into thinking we had less, and draw them in for an attack. attack when they least expect, keep them on edge from morning today. I will ensure the lizard man could never sleep. I will torture them mentally for days, and draw all of their attention to one spot while they are being surrounded. in the end, I would launch one final attack that would everything. draw the army forward while they are attacked from the back when they least expect it.' With a chilling smile, I looked at this all play out. of course, the lizard man didn't interest me, maybe if they were dragons,
Cocytus of course lost. a defeat which he wasn't all that upset by, the lizard man's battle spirit had won over his warrior's heart. Nazarick lost nothing in this loss, all of the undead lost were natural swapping monsters. the only loss was a lich which was summoned by Ainz, so pretty much we lost nothing.
Cocytus turned to look towards me and Shalltear, but we had already left. seeing this, he lowered his head and got up. Ainz had summoned him, he had to go answer his call. the only thing that made him sad was the fact he had disappointed the supreme being and even brought a loss to their great names. Such an act was unforgivable.
After a moment, everyone had gathered in the throne room. all but the garden of the 4th floor which was a bit too big to fit here, and a few others who were doing something outside of like Sebas... that reminds me, I haven't met Sebas yet.
Ainz called everyone, but it was not simply to see Cocytus. first, he introduced all of the floor guardians to the floor guardian of the 8th floor. Victim... she had a unique ability that could be cast upon her death. so she was a victim. yeah, we got creative with her. She, along with Rubedo, and a few reasons were the people who stopped the many guilds that worked together to invade the great tomb of Nazarick.
She was of the angel race, Victim has the appearance of a 1 meter-long bright pink fetus with an angelic halo above their head and featherless stick-like wings on its back. She does not have a neck of their own. In order to survey Its surroundings, Victim must turn their entire body around. Due to how cute it was, I was hugging it. which caused it to turn all red.
"Demiurge, I have inspected the sheepskin parchment..." As Ainz went on to speak, my mind couldn't help but think of Demiurge's farm. I went to take a look there... and that place was hell on earth. all of those Sheep were just humans, in other words, Demiurge was skinning humans alive to use their skin for making scrolls.
did I feel bad for them? well, a part of me did. but I didn't care enough to stop it. I only asked him to go easy on the children, Demiurge was a true human. he took pleasure in the suffering of others. so it was to be expected.
'Ainz doesn't seem to know. then again, if he knew, would he care?' I thought calmly, I made that place a bit more human. I was not going to shut it down if it brought benefit to Nazarick.
after Dumiurge, it was Shalltear. honestly, AInz has seen Shalltear mood swings during the few weeks she had no blood. Ainz had even wanted to stop it, but Shalltear had refused saying it was her punishment, and she needed to see it through. to make it worse, Shalltear had to walk among humans while controlling herself.
But Ainz could honestly be himself to be so ruthless with Shalltear like Dracula. He saw them all as his children, so he decided to think of one later after Dracula was done with his. which would hopefully buy him enough time to think of something as good as Dracula, which could both be a punishment and training.
"Now Cocytus, you have been defeated," Ainz said, the air in the throne room turning heavy, seeing this, Dracula rubbed Victim's head, calming her down.
"Yes, lord. I have dishorned Nararick. I was a...." Before Cocytus could speak up, Albedo spoke, causing Cocytus to go quiet.
"Cocytus, look your master in the eyes when begging for forgiveness," Albedo said coldly, making Cocytus quickly look up while apologizing.
"I'm Curious. why do you think you lost? Dracula who knows nothing of war has stepped forward to look at you in actions. I don't plan to punish harshly, everyone makes mistakes. I made a mistake..." Ainz said,
"And so do I. Mistakes are made to be learned from." I said with a smile, leaving everyone stunned. they all didn't believe we supreme beings could ever make mistakes.
"To become good at something, mistakes are made along the way. but to fail and learn nothing... now Cocytus, how could you have won." AInz said, his red eyes growing brighter.
"I Underestimated The Lizardmen I Should Have Been More Careful," Cocytus said, to which AInz nodded slightly.
"I Did Not Have Enough Information. From This Battle, I Learned That My Chances Of Victory Would Be Slim If I Did Not Know The Enemy's Strength And The Terrain." Cocytus said while Ainz nodded, asking for more.
"The Commander Was Inadequate. Since The Troops In The Field Were Low-Tier Undead, I Should Have Accompanied Them With Commanders Who Could Adapt To The Circumstances And Issue Timely And Accurate Orders. In Addition, After Considering The Lizardman's Weaponry I Should Have Attacked With The Zombies To Tire The Foe Or At Least Kept The Troops Together And Attacked All At Once." Cocytus said, and Ainz seeing as that was everything spoke.
"There is no need to apologize. You have said nothing wrong, and that was an excellent analysis. Of course, there is room for improvement, but you seem to have learned quite a lot. In truth, I hoped that you would not have to consult others and discover those flaws on your own… but that is still acceptable." Ainz said calmly, before looking towards Dracula, who had a faint smile the whole time.
"you have anything you want to add?" Ainz asked, he was curious, Dracula was not dumb by any means. he was just always a one-man army, he never needed to care for such things.
"he said pretty much everything... what I would have done was hide part of my army. make things believe we were about equal in number. draw them in, and attack when they didn't expect a thing. when they fall back, attack from afar, while using the chaos to send the other army to hide their tail. the following days, give them no rest. stress them out, morning and night. the Lich move from time to time, drawing out their elites. do this until you force them to attack you, and when they do, you pin them in. thats of course ignoring the strength of our army and the enemy's strength. but I feel like that would have worked here." I said with a smile,
"pretty much, before the war started. you should be sure of winning. they were stronger and had the upper hand. weaker them, even out the playing field, and use what you are best at against them. destroy their food supplies, destroy their hopes, destroy their spirits, I'm sure you or Demiurge could fight a better plan." I said with a shrug, leaving Ainz speechless. why was he saying Albedo and Demirgure? yes, that had to be it.
"No... My Lord, that plan has a good chance of gaining you victory. As expected of one of the supreme beings, to show such great skills on your first time." Demiurge said while looking at me as if he was looking at a god. everyone turned towards me, worship in their eyes. which made me awkwardly blush, it was my first time.
"well, Cocytus... the fact is that you were defeated. Thus, you must be punished like Shalltear. Cocytus, you will personally erase the stain of your shame… in other words, you will exterminate the Lizardmen. This time, you are not allowed to call on anyone else for help." Ainz said. If they annihilated the Lizardmen and kept word from getting out, then this would not count as a defeat for Nazarick.
Those who viewed everyone outside Nazarick as inferior lifeforms would gladly accept this duty, wiping away their shame and that of Nazarick with slaughter. Indeed, if this had been the Cocytus from earlier, he would have accepted this order without hesitation
'Cocytus warrior heart...' Dracula thought seeing how Cocytus was breathing in and out. after his short spar with Cocytus, I have come to understand the giant insect. normal people would not be able to read Cocytus's face, but I could to some degree. he was unwilling to attack the Lizardman.
So, with a lowered head, Cocytus did something that made everyone look at Cocytus with a hint of shock. He asked for a request from Ainz, an act which made almost everyone glare towards him.
"How Dare you! What right do you have to ask anything of Ainz-sama after staining the glory of Nazarick with defeat? The audacity!" Albedo said angrily, but Cocytus remained quiet. he was not going to look up unless Ainz allowed it, even if Albedo and the others attacked him. he would not move or even defend himself.
deep down he regretted saying such words, what if Lord Ainz grew angry and left to join the other supreme being? would his life be enough to wash away such sins?
"It's fine, Albedo. Raise your head, Cocytus. Could you tell me your request?" Ainz said stopping Albedo. Cocytus's request was simple, he was opposed to slaughtering the Lizardman. Of course, when he voiced out such words, Albedo's killing intent caused the air to shake, she was not alone as everyone in this room, but Ainz, Dracula, and Demiurge were readying to attack Cocytus at any moment,
their actions were to be expected. they were created by the supreme being, if Ainz were to say black was white, then black shall be white. the fact someone would oppose the supreme being's order made their rage boil. Cocytus would have done the same thing in their shoes,
"Be quiet, Albedo. I am asking Cocytus a question. Contain yourself." Ainz slammed the staff of Ainz Ooal Gown onto the ground... I forgot we had a guild weapon. anyways, with that, Albedo who was burning with rage did a 360, calming down almost instantly.
"Then, Cocytus, does that request of yours hold any benefit to the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick? Tell me." Ainz asked, to which Cocytus spoke. his idea was simple, be believed that in the future Lizard Man would breed might fine warriors, so it was better to instill a sense of loyalty into them, so when capable members of the Lizard Man appear, they could take them in.
"…That is quite a good idea. There's little difference in the levels of the undead made from Lizardman corpses compared to those made with human corpses. There is no need to worry about Lizardman corpses if we can efficiently recover the bodies buried in E-Rantel." Ainz said to which I nodded slightly, I couldn't make powerful vampires with those lizardmen.
"However, the undead I make with corpses are more economical than making use of Lizardmen. Not only can we be sure of their loyalty, but we will not have to worry about their care and feeding. The only advantage I can see in the Lizardmen is that they will naturally increase in population, and that increase will take a long time to be seen… Do tell me if I am missing anything. Are there any sufficiently convincing advantages they possess?" Ainz said calmly, leaving Cocytus at a loss for words.
'Poor guy... since we are planning on rolling the world. I guess we could start by having the floor guardian know how to manage their land. Cocytus could start learning by managing this lizardman tribe. We shouldn't just rule humans, but all races.' Dracula thought while hearing Ainz asking for Cocytus if he had any more reasons. but sadly, Cocytus didn't. but thats when Demiruge spoke up, and with AInz's permission, he spoke.
"I am certain you understand the importance of experiments. Therefore, should we not use the Lizardmen for experiments as well?" Demiurge said catching Ainz's interest
"Yes. To begin with, regardless of how Nazarick turns out in the end, we will ultimately need to gather various forces or exert control over various species. Your servant submits that when that time comes, there will be a great difference in the results depending on whether or not we have performed experiments in rulership." Demiurge said, making me frown. was that not what I was thinking? mine was better. he stole my answer.
"I feel that we should take control of the Lizardman village and conduct experiments in ruling without the use of terror." Demiurge finished, causing Ainz to slam the staff of Ainz Ooal Gown on the floor.
"An excellent suggestion, Demiurge," Ainz said to which Demiurge lowered his head greatly
"Then, I shall make use of Demiurge's suggestion concerning the Lizardmen. They are not to be exterminated but subjugated. Are there any objections? Raise your hands if there are." Ainz said while looking at everyone, but seeing no rejections he nodded his head slightly.
"It seems there are none. Then it is decided." Ainz said while looking at me, only to see me shrug, so he looked towards Demiurge
"That said, your suggestion was quite outstanding, Demiurge. Very impressive." Demiurge said, to which my eyebrow raised. I was sure Ainz didn't have such a plan
"No, there's nothing of the sort, Demiurge. You praise me too highly. I was merely hoping that you would express your opinions, regardless of what they were." Ainz said while looking at Cocytus. I looked at Ainz for a moment, he played it off so smoothly... or am I missing something?
"The most important thing is to understand the true meaning of your orders. After doing so, you must take the most appropriate action. Listen well, Guardians. Do not blindly follow orders. You must think before you act, and consider how best Nazarick can prosper from your actions. If you feel your orders are in error, or if you have a better alternative, then you must tell me or the person proposing the idea. Then Cocytus, I believe I said I was going to punish you, did I not?" Ainz said, to which Cocytus quickly restated his order to slaughter the lizard man.
"Indeed. Now, however, we will not destroy them, but place them under our rule. As a result, I will alter your punishment. You will rule the Lizardmen, and you will instill a deeply rooted loyalty to Nazarick within them. You are forbidden from ruling them with fear. Instead, you will turn the Lizardmen into a model of rulership without terror." Ainz said