Valkyrie's Shadow

Chapter 15

“What did Cocytus say?”

“The Grand Marshal is sending a detachment to occupy the plaza,” Baroness Zahradnik replied. “He also offered me a Soul Eater, but I declined on the grounds that it would defeat the purpose of Your Majesty’s exercise.”

Sometime during the plaza battle, the Baroness had lost her Undead Beast. Ainz thought it was to be expected, as the low-level Undead horse had no business charging into Skeleton Warriors and Blood Meat Hulks. The young noblewoman, however, appeared dejected at the loss.

Cavalry classes used special mounts that could survive the rigours of combat. In Yggdrasil, said classes had certain bonuses that extended to their mounts, as well as Abilities and Skills that revolved around mounted combat. Their mounts were effectively pets, capable of wearing equipment and learning Abilities and Skills of their own.

For some reason, they couldn’t find another Undead Beast in the form of a Horse. Undead summons weren’t designed to be used as mounts in the first place, so Ainz was at a loss as to what might serve as a level-appropriate substitute. It wasn’t as if she could ride a Red Skeleton Warrior or an Elder Lich around.

In addition, while the region’s Nobles all appeared to be capable of using mounts, a small worry tugged at him whenever the Baroness fought on hers. The possibility of her gaining Cavalry classes from fighting mounted was not zero, and she appeared to improve in her mounted combat ability as they went. Fighting on foot removed that variable from the equation.

And it wasn’t as if she needed a mount. Platinum-ranked Adventurers already outpaced horses over long distances, while Mithril-ranks could out-sprint them as well. The Baroness was plainly better at fighting on foot than mounted, even if her Noble levels offered some benefits to mounted combat.

“Maybe we’ll find something along the way,” Ainz said. “How far are we to our destination?”

“The central plaza was quite large,” the Baroness replied, “so it should be less than a kilometre northeast now.”

They went on their way, the streets cleared of the Undead by Cocytus’ order. He didn’t know how many thousands of Undead she had destroyed by the end of it, but he did note her personal progress.

Without having the Baroness periodically check her strength relative to the Undead with known levels around her, Ainz would have found it impossible to figure out how many levels she had gained. With it, he knew that she had gone up at least three levels since the beginning of their journey, where she sensed herself a being on par with the Level 16 Skeleton Warriors on her ship.

While she had only gained roughly three levels, her overall improvement was far greater than that. This drastic improvement felt more like ‘catching up’ to the unfulfilled potential of the Class Levels that she already possessed. Observing her progress drove home the idea that the variance between individuals could be far greater than simple levels would suggest.

It was unlike Yggdrasil where one levelled, picked out their new Class Level, Skills, and spells, then started using them right away. In this world, an Level 30 individual ignorant of what they were missing could effectively function like a Level 20, getting by through raw stat gains alone. A prodigious Level 23 would seem far superior to those comparing the two side by side, despite the former having a seven-level advantage over them.

With this being the case, Ainz could understand why the Adventurer Guild continued to prefer using their Difficulty Rating system over Levels as a metric for how challenging an adversary was. Their system derived ratings from observable data, which also factored in racial advantages.

For instance, if the average Human civilian had a Difficulty Rating of 3, then certain carnivorous Beastmen averaged around 30. In Yggdrasil terms, this was the difference between a Level 1 and a Level 10. It did not mean that the average Beastman was 9 levels higher, however: it simply meant that once one factored in racial advantages, they would be equivalent in power to a Level 10 Human.

This was also true for Yggdrasil at low levels – though usually not as pronounced – where the Human character builds did not yet have the Job Classes and Skills that allowed them to match and potentially surpass the racial advantages of Demihumans and Heteromorphs. In Yggdrasil, however, players eventually all hit the same level cap and most would stand on a relatively level playing field. The vast majority of Humans in the region appeared to live their entire lives under Level 10, making their world a very harsh place indeed.

Even so, the people here were remarkably adept with what little they had grasped. Though Baroness Zahradnik was a stand-out case of this, the members of the Sorcerous Kingdom’s Adventurer Guild were also far more proficient with what they had relative to Yggdrasil Players at the same level. If they were armed with the levels, knowledge and equipment that a Player had access to, Players would be handily outmatched by those who had made a career out of their vocations.

Ainz’s thoughts ultimately led him to consider what the true pinnacle of power might be in this world, and how Nazarick might be able to defend against it. They currently enjoyed an advantage in levels, resources and knowledge over the region, but he sincerely doubted that this would always be the case out in the rest of the world. Creating a nation with a sterling reputation, developing their resources and strengthening Nazarick’s defences in case that reputation was insufficient to prevent attacks were their priorities.

Recently, the question of sharing knowledge and resources had taken the spotlight once again. In the past, he was of the mind that arming their subjects with knowledge and technology would potentially lead to problems in the future. The obvious answer at the time was to jealously guard their knowledge and cap development below the point where the citizens could become a threat to Nazarick.

But what if there was another powerful guild in some unknown part of the world that assumed the opposite stance? One that created a grand hegemony with the resources to field thousands of high-level Mercenary NPCs? What if they shared their knowledge, catapulting native development in all fields? What could Nazarick do if faced with the combined might of such a power, backed up by unprecedented magic, new technologies and talented commanders?

The answer was nothing. All they could do was hole up in Nazarick and pray that they wouldn’t be able to get past the Eighth Floor for the rest of eternity. Most disconcerting to Ainz was the possibility that such a guild might have come long before Nazarick’s arrival, as other Players had, and enjoyed a centuries-long head start.

With this in mind, two options presented themselves to him. The first was to locate this other guild and see if they could be stopped before they grew too powerful or at least negotiated with. Doing so would risk Nazarick’s presence being discovered in turn. If the other guild did indeed have that head start and belligerent intent, it would be over for Nazarick.

The second option was to embark on that same path of development and growth, gaining those very same advantages that he feared might be turned against them. It was a grand venture in which he could do nothing but rely upon others to embark upon, as nearly everything involved lay beyond his limited expertise and experience.

He would need to consult with the great minds of Nazarick over the proper course. If he could ever figure out how to ask in such a way that it did not shatter the impossibly lofty image that the NPCs had of him, that was.

For now, he was limited to controlled experiments with the locals, such as Nfirea’s fusion of this world’s Alchemy with Yggdrasil tools and materials, or Gondo’s Runecraft revival. Baroness Zahradnik could be considered another one of these experiments – one that had literally appeared before him without his needing to do anything. The difference was that she had already yielded significant gains for the Sorcerous Kingdom before he was even aware of her. It made him curious over what would result from his little push.

As Ainz continued to ruminate, their destination came into view. Like the other two towers they had come across, the levels above its third floor were missing. That was where the similarities ended, however: the structure was far larger than the other two towers. It felt more like they were facing the wall surrounding the central district of E-Rantel.

“This building is larger than the Arwintar Arena,” he muttered, “maybe even larger than the Imperial Palace grounds.”

“This is the largest building I’ve seen in my life,” Baroness Zahradnik said. “It’s like staring at a city wall.”

“I don’t see an entrance on this side,” Ainz said.

“I’ll investigate the surroundings, Your Majesty,” the Baroness said. “Please be at ease here…”

A pair of Shadow Demons appeared before them, their pitch-black forms floating against the pitch-black darkness. They closed their glowing yellow eyes and bowed respectfully before Ainz.

Ah, that’s right – we did send for a few, didn’t we?

They raised their heads and one of them spoke. His sibilant voice slid through the darkness like an icy blade.

“Your orders, oh Supreme One?”

“You’ll be under the command of Baroness Zahradnik as reconnaissance,” Ainz told them. “Only reconnaissance, mind you – do not disturb the surroundings or anyone you come across. You are, however, permitted to defend yourselves if you are attacked.”

The Shadow Demons lowered their heads again in acknowledgement, then turned to await the Baroness’ commands. She looked as if she was about to speak, but then a tentative look crossed her expression.

“Is something the matter, Zahradnik-dono?”

“The last time I gave an order to my scout,” she replied, “it disappeared. I still have no idea what happened to it.”

“Your scout…ah, that Wraith. It was killed.”

“I didn’t see any Skeleton Mages in the barracks…”

Ainz frowned inwardly, the crimson points of his eyes winking out. They flared to life again as he realized what probably happened..

“Ah, I understand your confusion now,” Ainz said. “The Wraith was killed by one of the Red Skeleton Warriors, I believe. One of their Skills qualifies as an enchanted attack. I thought it best not to inform you at the time since you wouldn’t know what happened to one of your scouts in a similar event – only that they hadn’t reported back to you.”

“Thank you for letting me know, Your Majesty,” Baroness Zahradnik nodded in understanding. “I suppose that’s a point in favour of using summons for these roles.”

Beside her, the Shadow Demons glanced towards Ainz nervously.

“Summons do have various advantages,” he said, “particularly in high-risk environments where you believe that you might lose scouts. But while they are convenient, factors such as their duration and how they measure against the expertise and experience of your regular reconnaissance forces should be taken into account. In our case, there shouldn’t be anything that can destroy a Shadow Demon as quickly as the Red Skeleton Warriors did that Wraith.”

“If enemy scouts are captured, can they be dominated and sent to investigate high-risk areas as expendable reconnaissance? We would have the best of everything in that case.”

Scary! How does she come up with stuff like this?

It was something impossible in Yggdrasil. At least to the extent that she suggested. Mind controlling a mob effectively turned them into one’s pet with the limited AI of the game. Mind controlling a Player obviously did not take control of the Human controlling the avatar: it simply turned the avatar into a pet. In all cases, a pet was flagged with the same friend/foe recognition as the controller.

In this world, however, doing the same thing would result in a real person under one’s control. It was entirely plausible that one could use individuals in the way she described.

“…I can’t recall any attempts being made along those lines,” he answered. “It is an avenue worth exploring, however. What inspired this notion, Zahradnik-dono?”

“There was a string of arsons in the duchy recently,” she replied. “Citizens were being charmed, sent out to light industrial facilities aflame, then returned to their homes unharmed. It was a remarkably effective tactic. The locals had no idea what was going on, and they paid no mind to the charmed individuals as they were all familiar faces. I thought this could be adapted for the use of captured enemy scouts.”

Had he received a report like that before? Something like this must have surely crossed his desk. Ainz wracked his mind, and something spilt out.

“Papa…”

The Baroness went red as Shalltear’s armour and turned on her heel. She issued orders to her Shadow Demons as she swiftly walked away.

“Papa?” Shalltear asked curiously.

“I-it’s nothing,” Ainz answered.

Twenty minutes later, the Shadow Demons returned to report to their captain. The Baroness came back to address him with no sign of ever having lost her composure.

“There’s no entrance,” she said. “It’s a wall of smooth stone all around.”

“A hidden entrance, perhaps?” Ainz mused, “There weren’t stairs leading up the side or anything to that effect?”

Baroness Zahradnik shook her head.

“It doesn’t make much sense to me, but the inside appears…normal? As normal as a building so large can be. There are thousands of Undead inside – many don’t match the descriptions of anything we’ve come across so far.”

“Then I suppose we should drop down through the roof.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” she replied. “There is a way in from there, but I thought it would be simpler to fight out here.”

“In that case, I’ll leave you to your task.”

Ainz watched her return to her company, somewhat puzzled over her statement. He understood that the Undead under her command had no way to get to the roof aside from the Bone Vultures, but neither would the Undead inside have any way to get to her.

Baroness Zahradnik singled out one of her Blood Meat Hulks, gesturing to the nearby base of the tower with her glaive. Was she trying to put a hole in the wall? It seemed out of sorts for her. Though the degree of violence she employed appeared to constantly escalate, not once had it ever resulted in collateral damage. Maybe it was dependent on the occasion?

The Blood Meat Hulk threw a ponderous haymaker into the wall. Though it was four metres tall and weighed at least two tons, it was an ant compared to the solid stone tower. Its fist made contact with barely a sound. The Baroness looked up at the spot where her soldier had struck the structure, tapping her chin in thought. Several moments passed before one of the Blood Meat Hulks shambled off into the mist.

Thump…thump…thump…thump…

Out of the mists reappeared the Blood Meat Hulk, slowly picking up speed as it stomped along. By the time it reached the wall, it was moving at about the speed of the company’s charge through the plaza. Three-quarters of the Blood Meat Hulk’s health abruptly vanished, and the wall shuddered slightly. Baroness Zahradnik hurried back to the front of her company, eyeing the tower expectantly.

A whisper filled the air, sending an eerie feeling through him. The whisper grew louder and Ainz realized that it wasn’t just a whisper, it was a sea of whispers. Hundreds of distinct voices drifted over him, and Shalltear placed herself between Ainz and the tower, Pipette Lance at the ready.

“Why did you leave me?”

“Gone, all gone…”

“Master, return to us!”

“I understand! I know what it meeeeeeans!”

Voices rose, each one more manic than the last.

“Croutons! Croutons in the potion!”

“Corrupt! Twisted! The souls! And the soup…”

“Lania, get the broom! Sweep the spiders from my nose!”

“Orange? Green? Nay! Gaseous! Hyaaaah!”

Ainz swallowed, resisting the urge to back away. A strange pressure came from the sea of chaotic voices, but at the same time, he knew it could not affect him. His mind raced, going through lists of Undead with sonic attacks.

“May I attack, Ainz-sama?”

“Wait.”

The voices rose, growing imminently near: a cacophony that hammered at his skull, every voice making less and less sense the closer they came. His hearing was filled with unintelligible babble that crashed into him like so many waves on the shore.

Below them, Baroness Zahradnik raised her spear, and the Red Skeleton Warriors in her front line readied their blades in a single, uniform motion.

“Hmpk. Morflorisiluviae!”

“Oorilaliue! Kt’nah porish!”

“Vryjish~ Vryl wyll pyll di wyll!”

The wall before them glowed with an eerie green light, and then a thousand ghostly figures erupted from its surface.

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