After two days of rest and refitting, the troops had regrouped. Meanwhile, scouts reported that a large army had set out from Crown Jameson and was marching toward Esenna.
It was a formidable force, made up of light cavalry, heavily armored cavalry, siege catapults, longbowmen, sword-and-shield infantry, and spearmen. They even had magic casters supporting them.
Although her forces were outnumbered, EeDechi studied the map and decided to strike first. The cavalry brigade, mage battalion, and elite mixed brigade left their heavy armor and equipment behind and made a forced march to get ahead of the enemy. With the mages conjuring thick fog and rain to conceal them, they took up ambush positions.
They attacked while the main enemy force was crossing the river, its front and rear unable to support each other. EeDechi blew up the bridge.
Franco joined in, using an anti-magic formula to thaw the stretch of river the enemy had frozen with magic.
Caught in disarray halfway across the river, the enemy had no time to form a defense. They broke under the surprise attack, and the elite Undead Legion seized the opportunity to join the battle.
After a bloody struggle, the opening battle ended in victory. Half the enemy army had been routed during the crossing, and the heavy armor they took such pride in only weighed them down in the mud along the riverbank. Countless soldiers were trampled by their own comrades or drowned in the river.
Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled across the dark sky as rain poured down. Blood stained the riverbank, floating corpses filled the broad river, and the enemy soldiers on the far shore scattered in every direction.
"War really is cruel," EeDechi sighed.
"Your Majesty, that is the nature of war. If you don't kill the enemy, the enemy will kill you," said Arnold Crestian, commander of the elite mixed brigade.
EeDechi glanced at him. His Justice Value was -56.
Just then, a burly man clad in heavy armor approached, carrying a huge axe in one hand. In the other, he clutched more than a dozen severed heads, blood streaming from them in the rain.
"General." The moment Arnold saw him, he straightened and pressed a hand to his chest in salute.
The burly man tossed the heads to the ground and dropped to one knee before EeDechi.
"Your Majesty, I wished to follow imperial tradition and build a pyramid of enemy heads to strike fear into our foes. But the other officers said you dislike such things. Why is that?"
"Never mind why," EeDechi said with a frown.
She knew this man. His name was Stedwell Varen, and in life, he had been one of the Eight Greed Kings' great generals.
Stedwell Varen was an exceptionally fierce fighter. In the battle just now, he had led from the front, cutting down several of Morden's generals and magic casters with his huge axe. He had killed his way through the enemy ranks, sending them fleeing and abandoning their weapons and armor. With nearly a thousand kills, he had undoubtedly done more than anyone else to win the battle.
But EeDechi did not like him, because his Justice Value was -237!
That was far beyond anything she could tolerate!
With his head bowed, Stedwell Varen said, "Your Majesty, please allow me to lead a raiding party across the river tonight to attack the enemy camp. The Undead Legion can join the attack when the opportunity arises. We're certain to kill a good number of them!"
EeDechi shook her head. She did not want to look at this man anymore, but she could not kill him either. He had just distinguished himself in battle, after all.
EeDechi owned a fountain pen called "Modify," which could alter a person's Justice Value. However, the pen generated Justice Value very slowly, and she would rather save it for powerful Demon Gods.
Besides, Stedwell Varen was not the only person in the army with an extremely low Justice Value. Matthew Murphy, commander of the artillery regiment, had a Justice Value of -101. The mage battalion's commander was a dark magic caster whose Justice Value was -113…
If EeDechi tried to change all of them, the Justice Value stored in the pen would not come close to being enough.
She turned and walked away, leaving only a brief reply.
"Some other time."
Only after EeDechi was far away did Stedwell Varen rise to his feet.
"Her Majesty doesn't seem to like me," he said dejectedly.
"General," Arnold said, "five hundred years have passed. Our current sovereign dislikes war. You would be better off not waving severed heads around in front of her."
"Is that so?" Stedwell Varen sighed. "I was hoping Her Majesty would praise me. I understand now. I'll cut down the enemy with even greater ferocity and bring this war to an end sooner. Then Her Majesty is sure to see me in a new light!"
"I'm certain she will!"
…
In the conference room of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, Ainz Ooal Gown sat at the head of the table, discussing the progress of their world conquest and their next moves with the level-100 Guardians.
Several of the Guardians attending the meeting were busy carrying out the conquest plan in various parts of the world. Rather than attend in person, they used magical communication items to appear as three-dimensional projections seated around the conference table.
Among them was Sebas, who was gathering intelligence in the City Alliance.
Before the meeting, Sebas had submitted a report to Ainz that included a detailed account of the matter involving his underwear. Ainz had told him to delete that section and not bring it up at the meeting.
Sitting perfectly straight, Sebas's projection began reporting what he had learned in the City Alliance.
"…We discovered traces of EeDechi in the City Alliance. She boarded the legendary Dragon Island. Our further investigations suggest that Dragon Island is very likely an ancient dragon that remains in flight all year round. It has since flown away, so we do not currently know its whereabouts…"
Sebas glanced around at the other Guardians. "We have also discovered a particular habit of EeDechi's. We may be able to use it to locate her!"
"What sort of habit?" Albedo asked, intrigued.
"EeDechi has a peculiar interest in brothels!" Sebas declared solemnly.
"Uh…" Albedo was not the only one taken aback. The other Guardians also froze for a moment.
"I am not joking," Sebas continued in a deeply serious tone. "While tracking EeDechi's movements, we repeatedly encountered alarming rumors of a nun with short black hair, dressed in black, wielding a giant sword and smashing up brothels. Some brothels had even been burned down. I believe EeDechi enjoys destroying the local brothels wherever she goes."
"To think EeDechi had such a hobby." Albedo covered her mouth and chuckled.
Shalltear clenched a fist in front of her chest. "In that case, let's monitor every brothel in the world! Whenever one comes under attack, we'll rush over to protect it! Sooner or later, we're bound to find EeDechi!"
Ainz gave the suggestion some serious thought and found that it was not entirely unworkable.
For reasons they did not understand, all surveillance and eavesdropping devices and spells failed against EeDechi. If they could monitor every brothel in the world, they would find her eventually.
He nodded slightly. "It is a sound suggestion. However, it would require considerable resources and manpower."
"Lord Ainz, I believe that is a price worth paying if it allows us to find EeDechi!" Sebas said. "She is the Great Tomb of Nazarick's greatest enemy!"
Ainz considered it for a little longer and was just about to give his approval.
"No! We must not fall for EeDechi's scheme!"
Demiurge, who had been silent until now, raised his voice in objection.
He, too, was attending as a three-dimensional projection. Judging by his surroundings, he seemed to be sitting somewhere resembling a livestock farm.
However, the "farm" did not hold ordinary livestock. Instead, it was populated by grotesquely twisted creatures. There were humans with four legs and two heads, obese humans resembling bloated balls of flesh, and all manner of misshapen beings that looked as though several people had been fused together with magic.
These creatures crawled around Demiurge's feet, their mouths stretched open and their faces contorted in pain. They appeared to be moaning and screaming, yet not a sound came through. Presumably, Demiurge had cast a silencing spell on them.
Demiurge adjusted his glasses, light flashing across the lenses.
"At first, I too thought this was a good idea. But after considering it more deeply, I realized that EeDechi must have deliberately exposed this weakness to us! She wants to lure us into spending vast resources monitoring every brothel in the world.
"Our forces are already spread thin by our efforts to conquer the world, and we are short on manpower as it is. Keeping watch over brothels far and wide would stretch us even thinner! This is EeDechi's attempt to divide our forces. We must not take the bait!"
Sebas frowned. "Demiurge, aren't you overthinking this? We have finally found a possible way to locate EeDechi. How can we simply do nothing?"
"No! Lord Ainz, I firmly oppose this proposal!" Demiurge said to Ainz. "EeDechi is extraordinarily cunning, and her ability to evade detection is so formidable that we have been unable to find her no matter what we try. She would never expose such an obvious weakness. This must be a trap!
"If we fall for her scheme to divide our forces and waste vast resources on this surveillance, our control over the various regions will weaken. Then she will be free to plan an even larger operation without our noticing!"
Having finished, Demiurge joined Sebas in looking toward Ainz, their eyes filled with reverence and expectation as they awaited his final decision.
"Uh…" Faced with their eager gazes, Ainz felt a headache coming on. Both of them had a point, though Demiurge seemed to make a little more sense. Besides, "monitor every brothel in the world" was a rather strange proposal.
"We are currently short on manpower. For now, we will not proceed with monitoring the world's brothels." Ainz delivered his final ruling.
"Thank you for your wise judgment, Lord Ainz!" Demiurge bowed his head.
Then he looked up, adjusted his glasses with a white-gloved finger, and gave a smug smile.
"EeDechi, I have foiled your scheme once again!"
…
EeDechi's army made camp where it stood, facing the enemy across the river.
The mages cast hardening spells on the sodden ground, finally allowing the heavy cannons to be brought forward. The artillery regiment stood ready to fire at any moment.
After receiving a shipment of supplies from World's End, the regiment now had several hundred shells and additional guns. At last, they could fire to their hearts' content.
At midnight, the darkness was so deep that no one could see a hand in front of their face. Suddenly, deafening booms erupted from EeDechi's side of the river.
The artillery had opened fire.
More than two hundred shells slammed into the enemy camp on the opposite bank, shattering the defenses they had set up along the river and throwing men and horses into chaos.
The mages rushed to the water's edge and cast freezing spells. In an instant, a thick sheet of ice covered the rushing river.
A group of infantry spread bundles of prepared straw mats, quilts, and linen across the ice. Most of these had been purchased from nearby residents, who had not been given a choice in the matter, though they had been paid in full.
The cavalry brigade charged across and stormed into the enemy camp. Once again, EeDechi used the classic tactic: bombard them with artillery, then send in the cavalry.
Meanwhile, taking advantage of his ability to fly, Franco carried Cheeko the cat around to the enemy's rear and released the Undead Legion. The surprise attack succeeded, throwing the rear of the camp into chaos.
The bloody fighting lasted all night.
By dawn, smoke and the stench of blood filled the battlefield. Enemy casualties were beyond counting. Scattered soldiers fled in droves, and tens of thousands were taken prisoner.
Morden's main army had ceased to exist.
Interrogation of the prisoners revealed that Crown Jameson's defenses were depleted. Only the royal guard and a small garrison remained.
EeDechi immediately ordered the army to advance on Crown Jameson.
Another group of soldiers resurrected at World's End joined the army, bolstering its ranks. The great host marched toward the capital.
But with so much territory occupied and their lines stretched so far, they simply did not have enough troops.
The original plan had been to surround Crown Jameson without attacking it, then lie in wait and destroy the reinforcements sent from Sorsen and Fort Harth to relieve the capital.
Since they did not have enough men to encircle the entire city, that plan had to be abandoned.
It would still take some time for the army to reach the capital. Worried that the king might escape and leave her with no way to find him, EeDechi took the skyship and slipped into the city with Franco.
They were in luck. King James III was giving a speech to rally his troops. He was a king, after all. He could hardly abandon his capital and flee at the first sign of danger.
In full view of tens of thousands of soldiers, EeDechi snatched the impassioned James III away like an eagle snatching up a chick.
Two days later, the army arrived outside the capital. There, before the eyes of the defenders, they hanged King James III.
The ruler, guilty of countless crimes, had finally received his just reward.
The people who heard the news all rejoiced. Many local residents voluntarily brought food, cloth, horses, and other supplies to EeDechi's army.
James III was dead, but the prince immediately took the throne and resolved to resist to the bitter end. Meanwhile, Sorsen, Fort Harth, and Lakemere each dispatched an army to reinforce the capital.
Three enemy armies were now marching toward the city.
Another great battle was about to begin.