The sky stretched clear and blue, an endless expanse reaching all the way to the horizon. Aside from the countless pale-gold arcs of light wavering in the air, everything looked perfectly normal.
Those arcs wove together into a vast golden canopy, an immense curved net that blanketed the lands of the Slane Theocracy.
Barrett extended a finger and pressed it against one of the golden bands of light in front of him. He quickly confirmed that he couldn't pass through.
"I can't get in either," Franco said helplessly. He had already tried multiple methods to break the barrier and had no choice but to admit defeat.
"Meow~"
Cheeko poked its head out of the backpack, let out a soft meow, and jumped down to the ground.
It carefully stepped through the pale-gold light and entered the massive magical net. After wandering around inside for a short while, it came back out and climbed up Barrett's pant leg onto his shoulder.
Nearby, several farmers drove their carriages inside with their families, and even more residents of the Slane Theocracy were streaming into the enormous golden net.
"Looks like only creatures with relatively low strength can enter this barrier," Barrett said thoughtfully.
"What do we do now? The captain might be inside," Franco said, knocking on one of the pale-gold bands. It felt as hard as steel and completely unbreakable.
"We'll have to go around," Barrett replied. He tucked Cheeko back into the backpack and started walking in another direction.
The two of them and the cat traveled a long way, picking up rumor after rumor along the road.
The devout believers of the Slane Theocracy all claimed that the God of Death Surshana had descended from the divine realm into the mortal world, and that the Slane Theocracy was saved.
Surshana's divine might had enveloped the land. With no more than a gesture, he could drive out the Sorcerer Kingdom invaders and reclaim their homeland.
Barrett and Franco were only half-convinced by the rumors. The two walked a long stretch of dirt road until they reached a desolate town.
They had planned to stop at the tavern for a drink, but the residents had all fled, taking shelter inside the distant defensive net and leaving the place completely abandoned.
A long, mournful horn blast suddenly rang out from the far end of the town. Barrett looked up and saw Sorcerer Kingdom flags rising above the road as an army rapidly approached.
Dust rose in thick clouds as the thunder of hooves grew louder. A Sorcerer Kingdom army was charging straight toward Barrett and Franco!
"Damn it, run!" Barrett felt a chill and bolted out of town with Franco.
They reached the outskirts, where wild grass grew thick. Then, from far ahead, dust filled the sky and footsteps boomed like rolling thunder. Countless Sorcerer Kingdom flags appeared.
It was an army of lizardmen. They burst out from the flank, cutting off Barrett and Franco's escape route!
The lizardman legion wore matching armor that gleamed brightly. They held Sorcerer Kingdom flags high, each one gripping a long, heavy blade whose cold light flashed sharply.
This was a large force—at least five thousand lizardman warriors. Archers stood among them, cavalry waited on the wings, and shield troops locked together at the front. They were packed densely across the wilderness like an unbroken wall of metal.
Barrett and Franco stopped in their tracks and began backing away warily.
But the army that had been chasing them earlier also surged forward. It was a legion of death knights and skeleton soldiers, with fifty necromancers overseeing them.
These two armies were overwhelming in size and sealed off every escape route for Barrett and Franco.
Barrett and Franco had nowhere left to run.
From the battle-ready ranks of the lizardman troops, an imposing lizardman general stepped out. He was powerfully built, towering a full two heads above the ordinary lizardmen around him.
What made him stand out was that most of the scales covering his body were snow-white, forming a stark contrast with his dark, finely forged armor.
The lizardman general strode forward with his head held high, gripping a massive ice-blue blade that looked as if it had been carved from glacial stone. Its intense cold froze patches of the ground solid beneath him.
He shouted at Barrett and Franco: "I am Drus, descendant of the lizardman chieftains Zaryusu Shasha and Crusch Lulu, First General of the lizardman legion."
"What's the point of saying all that?" Barrett drew his two-handed greatsword and planted it on the ground, watching both armies warily.
"To honor worthy warriors before they fall in battle," the lizardman general said in a regretful tone. "I have no wish to bully the few with the many, but the two of you are on the wanted list. I will take your heads and offer them to the Supreme One, Lord Ainz!"
"Save your breath. I could wipe out every last one of you lizards in half an hour," Barrett sneered, swinging his greatsword into an offensive stance.
"Hahahahaha!" The lizardman general threw his head back and laughed. "No matter how brave a single warrior may be, one person's strength can never match that of an army. And besides, the two of you aren't just facing our legion."
As if in response to his words, the skeleton legion behind Barrett and Franco stepped forward in unison. Their footsteps made the ground tremble.
The hundreds of death knights also raised their swords high, cold blades gleaming under the sunlight.
"Old man, we're done for. The two of us are going to die here," Franco said, his face pale. He had already started preparing a Fly spell, ready to bolt at any moment.
"Meow~"
Cheeko crawled out of Barrett's backpack and stood on his shoulder, its spine straight and its tail held high.
It stared at the endless lizardman army ahead, its obsidian-like eyes shining with unyielding resolve.
Barrett turned to look at Cheeko. It looked back at him. As if sharing an unspoken understanding, the man and the cat nodded to each other.
Barrett took a deep breath, raised his two-handed greatsword high, and charged ahead alone toward the vast lizardman army.
His beard and hair whipped wildly in the wind. Brimming with heroic spirit, he looked like a pouncing lion as a thunderous roar burst from his chest:
"KILL!"
"KILL!" Franco, wearing his mage robes, gritted his teeth and gripped his staff tightly as he charged after Barrett.
"For Lord Ainz!" Thousands of lizardman warriors roared in unison, their voices shaking the heavens.
The lizardman army stood calmly in formation, waiting for Barrett and Franco's desperate charge.
The lizardman general also raised his ice-blue sword, a smile on his face as if he could already see Barrett and Franco being swallowed by the lizardman ranks, fighting desperately until they bled their last drop.
"To battle! Fight for the Great Tomb of Nazarick!" The skeleton legion, which had been standing ready, advanced in perfect unison, thrusting their spears forward as they marched toward Barrett and Franco.
"MEOW!"
Cheeko clung to Barrett's shoulder and let out a loud meow.
Along with its cry, hoarse horn blasts echoed across the field. Countless shadows rose from the ground, gathering like yellow sand into humanoid forms. They were undead warriors, well-equipped and arranged in perfect formation!
"MEOW!!!" The warriors of the undead legion roared in unison, their voices shaking the heavens as they charged toward the enemy lines.
Their numbers were as countless as sand along the sea, filling the entire open ground—and still more kept appearing without end!
Cheeko had once devoured the Undead Legion Staff of the Eight Greed Kings. That staff had been the key to their conquest of the world! Now Cheeko was the Undead Legion Staff itself—an invincible army!
"No! This is impossible!" The lizardman general's eyes bulged. The confidence on his face shattered, and the ice-blue sword in his hand began to tremble.
Countless undead warriors surged toward the lizardman legion like an endless sandstorm, instantly overwhelming them.
The once-orderly lizardman formation broke apart and scattered. They were divided and slaughtered one by one…
The Sorcerer Kingdom's skeleton legion was still charging forward, but only a handful of undead warriors broke away from the main tide and crashed into them, tearing their formation apart.
Piles of yellowed bones rose like small mountains. Death knights fell one after another, swallowed by the vast sea of the undead legion.
The lizardman general's arms and legs had been hacked away, yet he still writhed on the ground. Lizardman corpses covered the battlefield, and blood flowed in rivers.
"No! Why? Why did this happen?" he cried out in bitter defiance.
Barrett stepped forward and cut off his head with a single swing of his sword.