Valkyrie's Shadow

Chapter 15

The arrows vanished into the mist. Baroness Zahradnik did not wait for any sounds of their report.

“Nock, draw – loose!

“Nock, draw – loose!

“Mark: 140 metres! Nock, draw – loose!”

Though they were weak, the Undead nature of the Skeleton Archers allowed them to keep up with the Baroness’ rapid orders whereas living archers would have tired and slowed down. Ainz leaned forward, peering into the distance, but he could see nothing.

Is she hitting anything? How does she know something’s there?

“Mark: 130 metres! Nock, draw – loose!”

“Nock, draw – loose!”

A hundred metres away, Skeletons, Wights and Ghouls appeared with a smattering of Ghasts and Undead Beasts. Several Wraiths revealed themselves at half that distance. Baroness Zahradnik paid them no mind, continuing to direct her volleys somewhere beyond.

“Mark: 110 metres! Nock, draw – loose!”

Once the volleys fell within 100 metres, a handful of Zombies shambled into view. Nearly all of them were feathered with arrows.

I see…she’s filtering out her targets by their movement speed and using her archers to deal with the lion’s share of the enemy’s combined health pool. It’s really not like being a Commander in Yggdrasil – it’s more like those strategy games that Punitto Moe played.

The piercing resistance of skeletal targets would make them effectively immune to the Skeleton Archers’ arrows, and the faster movement speed of the leading edge made the faster Undead generally harder to hit. Zombies, on the other hand, would stay under the predetermined volleys for a much longer period. The fact that mindless Undead moved as quickly as their gait allowed them whenever possible made it possible to predict where they were on the flat terrain.

Wraiths reached the rank of Undead Archers, impotently swooping down on them from above. When the closest corporeal Undead came within forty metres, she ordered her Undead Beasts into a slow advance. Her ‘heavy infantry’ absorbed the disorganized charge, halting it in its tracks.

“Archers: take marks beyond thirty metres. Loose at will! Ghasts – with me!”

The Baroness rode off with two dozen Ghasts behind her, moving behind her lines to wheel around and charge into the side of the enemy force. Her spear cleaved through three ghouls as she crossed behind the enemy line. The Ghasts rolled over the flank, ripping into Undead flesh with their teeth and claws.

Ahead of the Ghast assault, Baroness Zahradnik systematically located and destroyed the enemies with the greatest damage potential. Her forces folded in over the collapsing enemy line. Without fear or any sense of self-preservation, the doomed Undead did not consider flight – they were simply dismantled where they fought.

Her battle won, the Baroness did not rest on her laurels. She reorganized her formation and immediately marched them off, moving around the edge of the ruins.

“Shalltear,” Ainz said, “how are things in Baroness Zahradnik’s territory?”

“I had a Vampire Bride go out into the village square,” Shalltear replied. “She didn’t notice anything amiss.”

Ainz breathed an internal sigh of relief. He hadn’t inadvertently started a riot in the Baroness’ territory with his willful prodding.

“Then it isn’t anything so ridiculous as a Skill with infinite range,” he said. “It’s probably a battlefield aura of some sort…considering the size of battlefields here, the area it covers is probably far larger than anything from Yggdrasil.”

The Baroness’ voice sounded in the distance. Ainz and Shalltear flew over to catch up.

When the dust of the second battle settled, he flew down to land behind the Baroness. A displeased expression marred her refined features as she inspected the ranks of her little army.

“It appears that your Skill does not reach as far as you feared, Zahradnik-dono,” he told her. “Shalltear spoke with one of her vassals in your territory and no difference was noted in the behaviour of your subjects during these battles.”

“That’s a relief to hear, Your Majesty.”

Though she said so, Baroness Zahradnik’s expression remained. Her gaze travelled down the row of Undead Beasts.

“There’s something else that concerns you,” he prompted.

“A few things,” she said, then turned to bow before him. “First, I must apologize for my unsightly behaviour, Your Majesty.”

“Unsightly?”

“Yes…this ability: it influences my behaviour; makes me more aggressive. I can’t stay calm and issue orders in silence, and it colours the tactical decisions that I make. I sit behind the lines and order attack after attack after attack, but it’s not enough and I charge out to fight in the end.”

A self-deprecating smile traced her lips, and she rose and turned away to look back out over her troops.

“It’s strange: Undead are supposed to be immune to mind-affecting spells and abilities, but it doesn’t feel that way to me.”

“「Despair Aura II」.”

A wave of dark power billowed out from Ainz as he toggled the Skill. No one – not even the weak Skeleton Archers – reacted to it.

“Nothing appears amiss,” he told her. “You’d be fleeing in a panic right now if you weren’t immune. Tell me, Baroness: have you retained your Human views on the Undead?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever had what might be considered normal Human views on the Undead,” she replied. “As a Frontier Noble, Undead beings were just one of a multitude of threats. I learned how to destroy them and not much else. Once my title went with the annexation, I had to learn as much as I could about the Sorcerous Kingdom and work with all manner of Undead servitors so I could continue to fulfil my contractual obligations as a noble.”

“Interesting…and now?”

“As you’ve observed, Your Majesty, I know very little about myself.”

“But you are yourself, correct?”

“…I’m afraid I don’t follow, Your Majesty.”

Ainz cupped an elbow in his hand and raised the other to his chin.

“Hmm…ironically, this would have been easier to convey had you possessed more conventional views on the Undead,” he said. “Most see the Undead as enemies of all that live, driven by an irreconcilable hatred for them. As an intelligent Undead being, you should understand that it is not as clear-cut as people presume. Though we may see and react to certain things in a manner distinct from the living, we have emotions just like anyone else – we can feel pride, joy and love; greed, anger and shame. Undead with emotional suppression receive a degree of protection from emotional extremes, but the fact remains that they’re there. Your emotions are not some mind-affecting spell or ability, Zahradnik-dono: it is a part of who you are.”

Now that he thought about it, wasn’t the fact that emotional suppression worked on the Undead strange? It was certainly an ability that affected one’s mental state. Maybe it was treated in the same manner as Shalltear’s Blood Frenzy.

“Then I’ll be subject to the influence of this Skill whenever I use it?” Baroness Zahradnik asked.

“It is more likely that you can learn to harness and refine this Skill. By your description, it’s something that affected Human aggression as well. Regulating one’s emotions is something that nobles are good at, yes? You appear to have done admirably with your, erm…reaction to my presence.”

Geh, why did I have to bring that up?

“But those feelings are still there…”

“They will most likely remain,” he told her, “and it is not necessarily a bad thing. What’s important is that you do not allow your emotions to rule you.”

The Baroness remained silent for several moments, leaving Ainz to wonder if he had said anything he shouldn’t have.

“This matter shall receive my utmost endeavour, Your Majesty.”

“Good. Now, what is your assessment of this offensive Skill?”

The Baroness turned her attention to the Undead ranks, and her displeased expression returned.

“Individually, the effect is quite small,” she said. “When applied to a large force, however, it produces pronounced results. When we were clearing the surroundings, these Skeleton Archers could at most get through half of the Zombies before they reached our defensive line. While maintaining this Skill, all of the Zombies were dispatched before they could reach us. Despite this, however, it is not enough.”

“Not enough?” Ainz frowned, “I feel that this is a significant improvement.”

Given that her entire force did not mysteriously double their damage, it was most likely that the offensive Aura added a small, flat bonus to damage. The arrows of Skeleton Archers did not do much in the first place, so the Aura’s effect was the most pronounced with them.

“If measured in a single battle, that should be the case, but it’s not enough to keep my forces from taking too much damage going from battle to battle. My Undead Beasts are in dire condition – I’ve lost half of them already, and the rest look about ready to fall apart. Since I am using them as my defensive line, they invariably end up like this.”

A chuckle rose from his nonexistent throat.

“Zahradnik-dono,” he told her, “you’re expecting far too much from a group of Undead Beasts, Ghasts and Skeleton Archers. Having these forces make it through two pitched battles of this magnitude is already a spectacular result. You seem to adapt quickly to new ideas and information, but, at the same time, you are still influenced by Human lines of thought. The advantage in having Undead forces is that you can always raise more, and corpses are plentiful as long as you continue fighting.”

“I still dislike losing forces under my command,” the Baroness made a face. “My tactics thus far have been simplistic, and I’m sure there are better ways to go about things. You mentioned that I’m bringing in Human lines of thought, so I will bring up a related question: are there no Undead here that can heal other Undead like Human Clerics can heal wounded soldiers? Aside from Lady Shalltear, of course.”

“Considering the level range present here, I don’t believe that there would be any. The earliest ones would probably be Mummies.”

“Mummies?”

“Yes – they’re the preserved bodies entombed by cultures with certain burial practices. You can commonly find Priests and Clerics amongst them, but this is not an environment in which they will appear. We’d have better luck if we were in a desert area.”

“What’s a ‘desert’?”

We have to start from there?

“It’s an extremely dry region, often sandy…you really haven’t heard of a desert?”

The Baroness squirmed slightly.

“One of my friends often calls this region a backwater of a backwater – I suppose I am a product of that general ignorance. I know very little about the world beyond the duchy. Even someone that’s been to the Empire or the Theocracy appears well-travelled to me.”

“Well,” he cleared his throat to clear the guilty inflexion in his voice, “given that you now have an unlimited life span, there will be plenty of opportunities to travel. As for other Undead…they’d have to be the intelligent sort with Job Class Levels, and I expect everything at that point would be above Mithril-rank by your estimation. Come – let’s replenish your ranks and continue…was there anything else you’d like to add?”

“I don’t like the smell.”

“I wholeheartedly agree!” Shalltear voiced her agreement.

“Hah!” Ainz barked out a laugh, “Then you have quite the challenge ahead of you. Those Ghasts that you’ve taken a liking to are the worst offenders in this lot. As a passive Ability, they emit a stench that can sicken anything not immune to poison. You won’t be able to just wash them off in the river.”

Baroness Zahradnik turned a baleful eye to the Ghasts who were waiting obediently in their ranks, as if she were considering their destruction on the spot.

Oi, oi…what happened to disliking losses?

Ainz made a mental note of the Baroness’ loathing of bad odours. Was it a Revenant trait? Maybe she just had a personal aversion to uncleanliness like Shalltear.

Once her troops were replenished, the Baroness returned to clearing the ruins around the tower. She continued in her efforts to refine her formation and come up with more effective tactics, but she continued to lose Undead Beasts every second battle. When they went to pick up new troops for the third time, the Baroness stopped to ask him a question.

“Your Majesty, if a Wraith attacks another Undead, will that Undead retaliate even if the attacks inflict no harm?”

He dredged up memories of his newbie days. In Yggdrasil, it was a mechanically sound idea, but the aggroed mobs would run off the moment someone did something that registered to them. It wasn’t a tactic that would last for long, either: by Level 20, it was common for Undead to have special attacks, wield magical weapons, or possess natural weapons that allowed them to deal damage to incorporeal creatures. Wraiths generally made for poor tanks.

Using Undead Domination to snag a Wraith floating by overhead, he gestured towards the Baroness. She thanked him and walked off towards the ruins with her new soldier, leaving the rest of her troop behind.

“Hoh…she seems quite confident.”

“She’s probably not wrong,” Shalltear said.

“She’s not,” he nodded, “but I doubt she knew in advance. For a native of this world, Zahradnik-dono picks up mechanics from Yggdrasil at an extraordinary rate. Most would remain mired in their commonsense or overcomplicate things. Your influence, perhaps?”

Shalltear’s lips twitched up in the ghost of a smile.

“A bit, perhaps,” she said. “Ludmila interacts with many of those from Nazarick working in the Sorcerous Kingdom, aside from Albedo and maybe Sebas. Then there’s the knowledge she gains while interacting with the Undead servitors around her territory. She works hard to follow any useful leads that she comes across, and she’s learned how to apply different types of thinking to things.”

“You’ve really taken a liking to her, haven’t you?”

“That’s…Ludmila isn’t on the same level as a comrade from Nazarick, but she’s proven to be quite compatible. A-as long as she works hard for you, arinsune?”

Ainz turned away to conceal a rueful smile. Even after over a year in their new world, the NPCs still adamantly believed he was as evil as his character’s Karma Value suggested. They also tended to reach extreme conclusions based on that setting. It still felt strange that they could see him as a merciful, generous Supreme Being while thinking he harboured unimaginable villainous intent towards everyone else unless he said otherwise.

He sighed quietly to himself, wondering if this would ever change. While he did not consider himself a strictly good person, he still possessed the sensibilities of an average Japanese salaryman.

“Ah – what is she doing?” Shalltear rose into the air slightly.

Ainz looked out into the misty darkness, but there was no sign of the noblewoman.

“You can detect her in all this?”

“I got tired of barely being able to see anything, so I summoned my Household and sent them out into the surroundings. This mist doesn’t obscure anything from Vampire Bats.”

“Then let’s take a look, shall we? Lead the way.”

“With pleasure, Ainz-sama.”

They advanced several hundred metres before Ainz spotted a multitude of silhouettes in the mist. He stopped above the Baroness and furrowed his nonexistent brow at the sight before him.

Wow, exploit much?

“This can’t be legal.”

“Shall we have Albedo draft a law against it?”

“That’s not – never mind. Is this a combination of her recently-obtained knowledge and the commonsense of this world?”

A dull rumble drowned out his voice. The Baroness’ Wraith darted through the ruins with several hundred Undead chasing after it. She appeared to be intent on creating a massive train out of the remaining Undead in the area. More and more Undead joined in the pursuit of the Wraith, making the scenery below appear a crawling mass obscured by clouds of dust.

The Undead couldn’t harm the Wraith, and the Wraith couldn’t harm the Undead that it had aggroed. The Undead it had aggroed could, however, damage one another. With their varying gaits, they tramped one another in their mindless chase. As the different types of Undead separated, the Wraith led the Undead Beasts in the fore to loop back and stampede over the mass of Zombies in the rear.

Who needs an army when you can make your enemies do all the work for you?

“This unyielding logic of hers is beginning to border on absurd.”

“If I may say so, Ainz-sama,” Shalltear said. “It is not logic that drives her, but intuition, arinsu. When it comes to the things that fall under the purview of her Class Levels, her intuition is so sharp that those of more rational leanings can only believe that the results she achieves are a product of impeccable logic. She is also smart enough that she can work backwards from where her intuition leads her, presenting what she inherently understands in a clear and rational manner, arinsu.”

Ainz wasn’t too sure what to think of Shalltear’s explanation, but the results were the same in the end. Having this intuition could be seen as a greater boon than deductive reasoning in a world where irrational leaps in logic abounded.

“So she just knows that what she does will work, then figures out why it worked after the fact?”

“Yes, something like that, arinsu. If she could only free herself from her self-imposed bounds, I think she would…”

Shalltear drifted forward, placing herself in front of him.

“What’s the matter?”

“She’s picked up something big,” Shalltear replied. “Going by the strength of the Undead here it shouldn’t be much, but…”

Ahead of them, Baroness sent her Wraith and its train careening into the mist. A basso moan drifted over the air. Moments later, a score of Undead Beasts flew back out. Ainz flew forward to witness the new development.

Another dozen Undead Beasts flew by below, blasted away alongside chunks of debris. A hulking figure appeared, measuring roughly four metres in height. Muscle and fat lay exposed over its entire body. In its shuddering wake came two identical creatures. Together, the massive Undead beings swept aside everything Ludmila had gathered, leaving bones and bodies scattered all over the rubble nearby.

Hoh…Blood Meat Hulks. What will you do now, Zahradnik-dono? Your new trick won’t help you here.

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