Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Getting everyone healed had been a lengthy process, the greater part of it because in the case of those who still had their whole limbs, to heal them required rebreaking them first. This, Lupusregina had been happy to do, resulting in hours of screams and laughter before it was done.

  So, by the time Ulbert was descending to receive their allegiance, the sun was already starting to set. He came down against the backdrop of a red evening sky, his body blacked out against the light of the sun, and the humans below kowtowed immediately.

  Their heads pressed to the soft earth of their pastures, laughter and tears mingled among the saved, and when Ulbert’s hooves touched the ground in front of the ranks of mankind, even unbidden, they raised their heads and shouted out to him, “Our lives for the house of Odle! Our lives for the house of Odle! Our lives for the house of Odle!” It wasn’t a fancy oath, it wasn’t the sort of thing Ulbert heard in dramas or poems, nor the sort of thing he saw in manga, anime, or even live action shows… and it definitely didn’t match anything in games.

  But as he beheld the little sea of faces, shaking, naked, out of shape bodies so freshly cleaned of the marks of abuse, some of whom still moved their limbs in subtle ways that reminded their bearers that they were truly healed, he realized something more.

  ‘It doesn’t matter how simple the oath is… I’ve never heard anyone mean anything more than this. They don’t even care that I’m a demon. Then again, who knows what they’ve had to do to survive, maybe even betraying each other along the way? Who knows? By comparison, a demon might as well be an angel.’ Ulbert pondered that, and the more he thought about it, the more sense it made.

  ‘Despite my progress, humans are going to spend a long time struggling with accepting a demon, oh sure, those I saved directly won’t have a problem. But that still leaves most of the country, and their gratitude is indirect at best. It’s only a matter of time before rumors begin that I’m out to perform some grand ceremony to sacrifice the kingdom or some other silly nonsense. And even if they don’t spread them, this ‘Theocracy’ probably will do everything in their power to undermine me.’ Ulbert couldn’t tell if it was his luck, his character’s genius stats, or some intuition of his own that guided him on this line of thought, but whatever the cause, he followed that thread to its logical conclusion.

  ‘I will simply rescue all the humans in the Beastman Kingdom… and win their loyalty completely. Depending on how many there are, I could have hundreds of thousands of faithful followers willing to die for me, and ready to defend the border at any cost if it came down to it. Plus that will be an effective counter against anything the Theocracy might do.’ Having reached his conclusion, he preempted the question he knew would follow from their oath. ‘Feeding them might be hard, but it won’t be that hard if I also plunder the beastmen’s food supplies.’

  “I’m sure you have questions, but every hour spent answering them is another hour for one of the beastmen to consume your countrymen.” Ulbert’s words stilled their tongues and they stared at him with the rapt attention that the faithful gave to a god descended among them.

  “From here, my comrades and I travel on. We will crush the cities of the beastmen as far as our claim, and then I will lead the rest of their human captives out of hell and into their new country. The Draconic Empire.” He placed emphasis on the word, and silence gave way to gasps. “The days ahead will not be easy, they will be filled with sacrifice and difficulty, but you will never be eaten again!”

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Ulbert’s shout gave way to a roar of delight from the former cattle, and when he stood aside and gestured to the gate he said, “Take from their city whatever you wish, then go west till you encounter humans. I have no doubt that they will be expecting you.” The truth was, he couldn’t be sure of that, but it was nothing a messenger spell couldn’t resolve, and he could borrow Momonga’s help with the message that night.

  For now… watching them rush toward the open gate with cries of delight, and disbelief mingled together, that was sufficient.

  When the last of them were gone out of sight, Ulbert ascended skyward and after reaching his companions asked, “Did your undead find anything noteworthy?”

  “Nothing.” Ainz answered, “The treasury was far scarcer than I expected, and there were few magic items.” It wasn’t a surprise to him that Ulbert asked, after all, they all knew the value of searching a corpse after victory for useful trinkets. The same went for a captured guildbase.

  “Strange that that should be the case, it seems their country really was in serious trouble, all the other cities were the same, weren’t they?” Ulbert asked, and Ainz again nodded.

  “Nothing higher than fifth tier and little money. They really are a Kingdom in decline.” Ainz agreed.

  “Give it a few hours, and then on to the next city?” Ulbert asked rhetorically.

  “Yes, that will be fine.” Ainz said and then as Pandora’s Actor returned he said in turn…

  “Well done… my son.”

  “Thank you, father!” Pandora’s Actor cried out with the greatest glee he’d ever felt in all his life.

  ‘How long has it been?’ Adon wondered, darting from tree to tree ‘A week? A month? I don’t know, I’ve lost track!’ He tried to work it out, but with sound sleep a distant memory, time was a blur.

  ‘It doesn’t matter. The monster that killed Cerebrate will come for you! He’ll torture and kill you… you can’t escape it. There’s nowhere in this world that he can’t find you. He might have been chasing Cerebrate for weeks, months… what chance do you have? None! None! As long as you’re in this world, you are prey for a person you can’t touch! No one can protect you! No one will protect you!’ The voice of doubt in his mind clawed at his sanity, at his reason, there was no hope left in Adon’s mind.

  There was only despair, thicker than the depth of the ocean, he kept going anyway, his hair became a tangled mess, his body thick with filth as he dared not stop to bathe himself, or even to wipe his own ass. ‘He’ll smell my waste, I have to run!’ Stopping was rare, fear was all consuming, and the nightmares still haunted him.

  And always the voice clawed at him, ‘You have no hope of escape. No hope of survival. There is only torturous suffering left for you in this world. The only safety you can ever hope for, the only way to keep him from hurting you, is to die on your terms…’

  Adon did his best not to listen. ‘If I just run far enough, into Theocracy territory, I’ll be safe!’

  Or so he told himself.

  Whether he believed himself or not, was another matter entirely.