Chapter 42, Purgatory on Earth
Flames flew, flags were broken, corpses lay everywhere, and blood flowed into rivers.
inside. The outskirts of Lorenti City, the capital of the Kingdom of Yestije, has turned into an unprecedentedly miserable and bloody battlefield.
The black smoke from the burning flames covered the sky. Wounded warriors were staggering among the corpses, extending from the base of the city wall into the distance. Corpses in different postures were lying in various positions. Most of these corpses are naturally dead people, and there are also a considerable number of war horse corpses, as well as unnamed weird monsters, plus more completely unrecognizable broken bones and rotten flesh. At first glance, it looks like a slaughterhouse. . Groups of crows and wild dogs swarmed in, not afraid of the still-burning embers, wandering leisurely in this natural food party, competing for the delicious flesh and blood.
What is even more horrifying is that on this battlefield littered with corpses, there are still "people" standing in a pool of blood and fireworks, wandering around with an unusually stiff pace. Among these "people", most of them have only bones left. Even those who still retain their skin and flesh have hideous and terrifying faces. There are no eyeballs in their eye sockets, and their bodies are covered in a disgusting stench. Their muscles are rotten and black, their skin is withered and necrotic, and various internal organs are flowing out from the terrifying huge wounds. After coming out, no matter how you look at it, you can no longer be called a human being.
But these "people" who should have died long ago still did not fall, but wandered around helplessly, roaring from their severely damaged throats, their eyes filled with hatred for living beings, and killing without mercy. Kill all the living people they can see!
From time to time, seriously injured Kingdom soldiers who fell to the ground were stabbed in the heart by skeleton soldiers, and their throats were even torn open by zombies and bled out.
This is a life-and-death fight between the living and the undead!
Although the city of the royal capital was still crowded with heavily armed soldiers at this time, facing the army of undead creatures that were "cleaning the battlefield" and killing survivors, they only dared to stand on the city wall, trembling with fear. Looking down at the Shura Field below, he did not dare to help his colleagues trapped outside the wall.
In addition, unlike the common war scenes between humans, the royal capital of Lorenti City, which was under siege by the undead at this time, was shrouded in a gloomy mist at some point. Although it was not so exaggerated as to be invisible, it was still It was enough that the defenders could not see the scene in the distance. They could only wear naked clothes and stand in the cold and damp mist, stamping their feet and shaking, while worrying about their fate.
——A month has passed since the undead army from the southeastern border suddenly arrived near the royal capital.
The hastily assembled human army suffered tragic defeats again and again in the wilderness. The outposts, fortresses and manors dotted outside the walls of the royal capital have all been wiped out by the undead. Even the royal capital itself, protected by the tall city walls, has withstood several fierce attacks...
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"...Huh, Huh..."
In the gray mist, Clem, a soldier of the Kingdom's Guards, leaned on a spear and leaned against the crenellations of the city wall. He kept making bursts of rapid breathing, like a broken bellows being pulled, trying his best. The ground gets more oxygen to the lungs.
With the fall of various camp strongholds in the suburbs, the city walls of the royal capital have become the last line of defense against the undead.
Climb was exhausted from the endless battles one after another. Although the enemy was not attacking the city, they were not retreating either, so he was forced to brace himself and continue to be alert and ready for war.
Just outside the moat at his feet, a Kingdom soldier who had fallen behind during the retreat back to the city was wailing in an extremely miserable manner, as if he was being delayed. In fact, the soldier's current situation was indeed similar to that of Ling Chi, because several ferocious-looking ghouls were lying on his body, tearing off strips of bloody flesh from his limbs that were not protected by armor.
——Ghoul, originally transformed from a human, more or less retains a human body shape and minimal intelligence, but is definitely much uglier—mottled and rotten skin wraps clearly visible bones, two eyes They glow red like hot coals, and are covered in potent toxins. Any creature bitten or scratched by them will be immediately paralyzed.
Moreover, just like their name, ghouls are obviously rotten undead, but they have a good stomach, eager to tear the flesh and blood of all living things, and can maintain their shape, heal wounds, and enhance their strength by eating corpses - - Therefore, this thing is quite durable. As long as it cannot kill with one hit, it will quickly recover by eating corpses, and there is always no shortage of corpses on the battlefield. In addition, ghouls can also transform corpses into undead creatures. Fortunately, this transformation process is quite slow, otherwise the killing speed may not keep up with the proliferation.
If possible, Climb would also like to use a bow and arrow to give this poor man a pleasant death, but this is impossible because yesterday, Climb's bow string broke together with the bow body, and The already scarred armor had collapsed just now, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't repair it. The long sword had been broken a long time ago, and now he only had a spear in his hand that he picked up from nowhere, and he couldn't throw it away again.
Moreover, even on the city wall, there was a shocking pool of blood, with broken human corpses and internal organs scattered among them, especially the head of a dead soldier. The head seemed to have been torn off from the body, and the fear-filled eyes on it were staring directly at Climb. Climb's already numb heart tightened suddenly, and he had no choice but to turn his head and look no further.
At this moment, a slight noise came through the fog. Climb looked back and saw a noble officer wearing gorgeous armor staggering over. The original gold-plated and silver-plated armor on his body had been damaged in many places, and he was holding his abdomen tightly with his hands while breathing softly, but there seemed to be not much blood stains, and it seemed that the injury was not too serious.
Clem moved slightly, but immediately sat back weakly, "Sorry, sir, I can't get up to salute!"
But the wounded noble officer did not say a word. He just continued to stumble towards Clem, as if he wanted him to help him. Seeing this, Climb had no choice but to stand up again with difficulty, leaning on his spear, ready to give a hand to the commander who was unable to walk steadily.
"...Be careful! Get out of the way! Don't touch him, there's something wrong with this guy!"
A panicked warning suddenly sounded, and before Clem could even turn his head, he heard a weird roar of "Uh-huh". The noble officer suddenly jumped up from the ground and rushed towards him with a roar! Fortunately, Clem's military career in the past few years was not in vain. The moment the opponent rushed towards him, he raised his spear and stabbed him hard. The attacker suddenly fell over and fell heavily on his back. Next to the crenellations of the city wall. The next moment, he leaned over and took a look, and was suddenly frightened and gasped.
I saw a big bloody hole in this guy's belly, the flesh and blood inside was blurred, and at least half of his internal organs were missing, clearly exposing the white bones. Looking further up... Behind the helmet that had just fallen off, there was a face that was bitten with holes by unknown things. One eyeball hung under the eye socket, flickering back and forth, which was extremely terrifying.
But despite being so seriously injured, this guy was not dead, or even unconscious, and was still staring at Daniel with his other intact eye. His big mouth full of sharp fangs opened and closed, and disgusting viscous liquid kept flowing out. It flows from between the teeth. Climb was horrified when he saw it. At this moment, a sword light suddenly passed by him and chopped off the monster's head.
"...be careful next time! Even on the city wall, there are many soldiers of our army who were poisoned by corpse poison due to fighting, and then were slowly transformed into undead in the miasma. If they are not carefully identified, it is easy to cause trouble!" A brief comment A tired and stern voice sounded immediately.
"...Are you the warrior commander? Thank you for your help!"
Turning around, he saw Gazef Stronov, the warrior captain of the kingdom, sheathing his sword. Climb could not help but express his sincere thanks. At the same time, he lowered his head and looked outside the city again. He was horrified to discover that the man who had just been eaten The poor guy bitten by the corpse actually stood up staggeringly again, surrounded by a group of undead, but his appearance seemed to have changed - withered skin, distorted facial features, a mouth full of steel teeth, drooling, From time to time, he roared in his mouth. And the pair of terrifying eyeballs that turned blood red were staring at myself standing on the city wall...
The magician stationed at the watchtower at the top of the city immediately fired a burst of fireball in this direction. The undead creatures gathered on the other side of the moat were immediately knocked down with their flesh and bones flying everywhere. But the problem is that after the smoke and dust dissipated, except for a few unlucky ones whose heads were smashed, the rest of the zombies and skeletons quickly got up. Even a guy whose legs were completely broken were struggling. He moved forward bit by bit with both hands, and the intestines, internal organs and broken muscles were dragged all over the floor behind, making everyone want to vomit.
Faced with such a horrifying scene, Climb couldn't help but feel deep despair: the evil magic chanter who controlled the undead had been hiding behind and never showed up, leaving people wondering where to fight. And if the source of all disasters cannot be eliminated, then as long as there are enough corpses, the undead creatures attacking the royal capital will be killed endlessly, making humans exhausted to deal with them. And those few bone dragons that can resist all magic are the nightmare of all the defenders, and they can knock out huge gaps in the city wall every time. Even with the strength of Warrior Captain Gazef, he could only barely drive them away rather than completely eliminate them.
With Wang Guowen and Wu Xi's weak status, can they defeat such a terrifying and powerful enemy?
Warrior Captain Gazef seemed to notice his low mood, so he walked up to him, patted his shoulder and encouraged him, "... Don't worry, we will definitely win! As long as we can survive this most difficult time... ”
Climb nodded, but still couldn't cheer up. Gazef could only sigh and continued, "...Climb, His Majesty the King has just given me a dangerous and important task, which requires a group of the bravest people to complete. I hope you can do the same." Get involved..."
It was only at this moment that Climb's eyes brightened slightly, "...What mission?" He looked up at Warrior Commander Gazef and asked.
"...Come with me out of the city, break through the encirclement of the undead army, and go outside to collect reinforcements!" Gazef replied, "...This time the undead attacked too suddenly. Not only did we have no time to gather our troops, but even the kingdom The adamantine-level adventurer team 'Blue Rose' also happened to be out of town. That's why the fight was so embarrassing. Now, in order to defend the royal capital, just being trapped in the city is not enough. Someone must rush out with the royal order and gather the armed forces scattered throughout the kingdom to form an army. Only with strong reinforcements can victory be possible..."
At this point, his tone suddenly became a little hesitant, "...Perhaps, some strong people you just met might as well try to ask for help?"
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If it can be said that outside the walls of the royal capital of Lorenti at this time, it is already like a slaughterhouse, then behind the army of the undead, it has become a real slaughterhouse, as well as Hell's Kitchen and human meat restaurants-human beings are the most popular among them. Welcome ingredients!
What is worth noting is that the diners feasting on human flesh are not undead.
"...The fat of women is very soft and the meat is delicious. The fat of children is very thin and the meat tastes great. But the most delicious thing is the meat of men with rich muscular texture! It's a pity that it's only the meat of corpses, not as good as Eating the flesh of a living person is so fresh..."
Adoma, the Spider-Man maid of the Pleiades Battle Maid Corps in the Great Tomb of Nazarick, held a human hand that had just been cut off from a corpse, feasting on the fresh human flesh while muttering about her culinary skills, accompanied by Her throat kept trembling, and her entire arm disappeared bit by bit with the sound of "pah pah pah" - although her expression was very cute, but combined with the actual situation, it was enough to make any weirdo pee. Pants.
At the same time, the eight-limbed assassin bugs of the Great Tomb of Nazarick led by Edoma were also feasting on the corpses collected by the skeleton soldiers, gnawing away the internal organs, muscles and fat, leaving only a few Complete bones are used to piece together new undead monsters.
"...I think so too. Whether it is humans or other animals, the fresher the meat, the more delicious it is."
A giant cockroach wearing a gold crown and a red robe also led a group of smaller cockroaches, eating another pile of dead people and dead horses with relish. However, the way it eats is obviously much more elegant than Edoma. It even ties a napkin and holds the knife and fork with its forelimbs. They also used magic to fry the human flesh until it was 70%, then spread it with sauce, sprinkle with spices, and enjoy it slowly with the captured wine.
——He is the most aristocratic existence in the Great Tomb of Nazarick. He is said to be proficient in fencing, music, dance and court etiquette. He even eats his own meals as elegantly as a French meal, but even if Even so, it still doesn't change the fact that it's a big cockroach.
"...I remember that I sent a group of living prisoners just now? Demiurge! Can you give me a few living prisoners to try?"
"...No! Absolutely not! These stupid undead creatures only know how to kill people. No matter how strictly they are ordered to capture people alive, they have only captured a total of more than 20 people alive so far! These precious captives are still alive. It has an important purpose and cannot be eaten casually by you.”
The commander of the undead army outside the royal capital of Lorenti City, the demon gentleman Demiurge shook his head like a rattle while staring at the battle mage maid Narberal next to him with bright eyes, "...how is the situation? ? Narberal, this latest batch of tanned human skin paper should be usable! ”
"...Don't make any noise! I'm experimenting! Let's wait until we get the results!" Narberal just raised her body slightly, scolded her without looking back, and leaned over to the makeshift wooden table in front of her again. on, concentrating on making magic scrolls.
At this time, on the table at her hand were scattered countless various magic catalysts - ores, precious metals, stones with properties, gems, various powders, dried animal organs, etc. There were also piles of gold coins and bundles of leather paper of different colors.
Narberal first recited a spell silently, emitted high-temperature light from her fingertips, and melted a few gold coins into liquid. Then, under the constraints of magical power, the gold solution slowly flowed onto the paper as if consciously, and then snaked to the scheduled location. After reaching the position, it slowly spread out, and finally painted a golden magic circle with complicated and exquisite patterns, both complex and delicate. Fine...it's not finished yet. Next, you need to pour magic power into the scroll to make it a truly usable magic scroll. This is also the most dangerous part: Narberal made six scrolls in a row. But three scrolls suddenly burst into flames during the process of infusing magic power, and burned completely in the blink of an eye, leaving only a handful of fine ashes. Although the other three scrolls also became red and hot, they finally did not emit flames or smoke, but gradually cooled down.
"...Phew! This batch of magic scrolls has finally been successfully completed! The quality of this human skin paper is indeed much better than that of sheepskin!"
Seeing that repeated trials finally yielded results, Narberal, who had always been cold-faced, couldn't help but show a hint of joy, "...The texture of parchment in this world is so poor! Even the first level of magic is not good enough. It’s hard to bear. It would be slightly better to use human skin to make magic scrolls, which can barely carry third-level spells... But... Demiurge, can you guarantee the quantity of raw materials?"
She looked back at the few human captives in a rough wooden fence not far away, and couldn't help but frowned again, "...if it is the skin of a dead person, its quality is not as bad as the skin of this world. Parchment paper is almost the same, and only if it is peeled off by a living person can we ensure better quality. . And the skin peeled off each human's back is only enough to make a scroll. But you only have so few living people, how can the skin be used for a one-on-one battle? Human magic fighting requires at least a dozen scrolls?”
"...This problem...there is no good way to solve it for the time being. We can only use healing magic on the skinned person immediately after skinning it, so that it can be used repeatedly..." Demon Gentleman Demiurge shrugged. , "...the rest can only continue to capture slowly..."
"...Furthermore, according to my experience, since among the parchments used to make scrolls, lambskin has the most ideal texture, then among humans, skin peeled from young children should also be the best... But There is only one child here, and he is so thin..."
Narberal pointed to the only skinny little girl in the fence, and added, "...I can't bear to skin her..."
"..." Demon Gentleman Demiurge didn't know what to say for a moment, "...Well, I will fatten her up as soon as possible..."
"...Speaking of which, as long as we break into the city opposite, wouldn't there be as many living humans as there are? Then whether it's skinning them to make scrolls, or cutting their flesh and eating them, everyone can enjoy themselves If you have used it enough, how can you be so timid like now?”
The big cockroach Horror, who had eaten a feast of human flesh, wiped his mouth with a napkin and complained to Demiurge, "... Such a pretentious siege is really boring! If I were to lead my fellow tribesmen to fight in from the sewers, Now we are already sitting in the hall of the palace celebrating!”
——When he just arrived in the royal capital, the terrifying man with the talent of "infinitely summoning his kind (cockroaches)" volunteered to be the vanguard, preparing to lead hundreds of thousands or even millions of cockroach legions from the sewers. They swarmed into the royal capital and gnawed all the humans and animals in the city down to the bones... However, they were urgently stopped by Demiurge, and then even ordered his cockroach army to stay away from the battlefield and stuff it into the back to be refrigerated.
At the forefront of the siege, Demiurge only used some low-level undead creatures that were weak but did not cost much to summon. He pretended to attack the city several times a day and retreated after suffering slight losses. It's like playing a game instead of fighting.
"...I've said it several times! It is a strategic decision made by Lord Ainz to temporarily besiege the royal capital of Lorenti City instead of attacking it, and to use the main force to sweep the surrounding areas! As subordinates, we must strictly implement it!" Demon Gentleman Demiurge slammed the table hard, "...In this kingdom, there is indeed no What power is worth worrying about, Lord Ainz, but in other countries, there seems to be powerful treasures left by the Supremes of other organizations (the honorific title given to players by NPCs), which may pose a threat to Lord Ainz and our station! We have to proceed with caution!”
"...But I still don't understand, what does this have to do with not capturing the capital for the time being?" asked the Horrible Duke.
"...Well, according to Ainz-sama, as long as we don't capture the royal capital for a day, no matter how many villages and towns we sweep and destroy, in the eyes of the authorities in other countries, this will still be a war not worth interfering with. Small conflicts should be resolved by the rulers of this kingdom themselves.”
Demiurge replied, "...So, in order to avoid making too many enemies at once and leading to an unexpected defeat, we must be slow and patient in our attack on this kingdom. We must first surround the royal capital and paralyze their command. Then gradually destroy the surrounding countryside and destroy the source of this country's power. When there is only one lonely city left in this country, what can stop us from conquering it?"
Regarding the above statement, all the guild NPCs who were ordered to go on the expedition were sincerely convinced. After a little thought, they understood Lord Ainz's difficulties. But the problem is, understanding is understanding, the actual problem of how to obtain a large number of skinned people alive as soon as possible for making magic scrolls still needs to be solved.
"...It seems that the only way is to establish a human breeding ranch after the war, and then use various aphrodisiac spells to let them mate collectively, and then give birth to a large number of human cubs that are most suitable for skinning!" Demiurge thought hard. It took a while before I finally came to this conclusion.
"...Human breeding ranch?" Battle Mage Narberal raised her eyebrows, "...In the forest near the Great Tomb of Nazarick?" "...No, it has to be set up farther away. Okay." Demiurge shook his head, and then explained, "...In the area of Karn Village closest to the Great Tomb of Nazarick in this world, many people have gathered recently. Humans come from all directions, and Ainz-sama seems to have the intention of turning them into subjects or serfs. In order to avoid frightening them, Ainz-sama will definitely not agree to our setting up a human breeding ranch near our home... Well, come to think of it. It’s true, Ainz-sama is not a philanthropist, so why should he be so kind to these despicable humans..."