Chapter 12: DEATH: News travels slow.
[E-Rantel]
The city was in chaos, flames lit the dark night and set the city a blaze as various undead skeletons and undead soldiers massacred all the things that lived, their contempt for the living showed through as screams of agony filed the air and creating a grim atmosphere of death and despair, no one was spared, children no older than 5 well slaughtered in cold blood, women be it they be pregnant or not were killed with no shred if remorse, man whether they be sickly or disabled all fell and suffered the same fate as the undead tore them apart with swords or spears some even working together to pull apart people's bodies tearing them apart limb from limb, the ground was wet with blood and guts, the moon shone up in the sky, lighting up the area and revealing the gruesome scene for all to see.
The only thing that gave the people hope was the adventurers guild, those who were lucky were able to run towards it and received shelter there under the protection of the adventurers although the adventurers themselves were nothing but a hodgepodge of individuals scraped together to create some form of resistance against an army of undead and they surprisingly held their ground.
The guild was packed full of people, the building was stuffy and hot and smelled quite horrendously as the smell of sweat and armpits permeated in the air, all adventurers were outside fighting giving it their all to protect the innocent and the entire building was filled with civilians the was hardly any space to move, the only place with barely enough space was the guild master's office but even it was filled with guild employees.
"Guild master what do we do? The building is at full capacity. Wee can't accommodate anymore people"
One of the many Guild employees in the room asked, panic and terror were written all over her face her body was trembling in fear and sweat was evident on he forehead, her back was practically drenched in it, The entire Guild building was surrounded by undead with the adventurers barely holding them back, all the more powerful adventurers had been sent to the Katze plains to deal with the abnormalities that were occurring there leaving the weaker ones in the guild, creating a situation where the city was vulnerable.
"There's nothing we can do except hold out till reinforcement from either the capital or the neighboring cities or by amiracle the high level adventurers return from the plains"
Ainzarch answered, as he peered out the window witnessing adventurers fight against undead, the sinking feeling he had before this all happened had turned out to be correct and he couldn't help but feel like this could have been prevented If he had been more smarter, he was certainly warrior at heart and he hardly had any talent for strategizing although his mild mannered disposition might give of that impression.
"how many potions do we have? and are there any potion makers in the crowd?"
He asked, even though a majority of adventurers get their potions outside the guild, it still sold the necessary items that are vital to an adventurers life however the price was quite high so most adventurers prefer to buy from outside the guild. Luckily, this was what the guild was aiming for to have a stock of potions should the need arise.
"we distributed as many as we can to the adventurers so at that they can fight at their fullest, each team has about 10 mana potions, 10 healing potions and 15 stamina potions, we still have a few more but due to the amount of people in the guild right now it takes too long to send them out."
"then what about potions makers?"
"even if we did have them there's hardly any space to brew any right now"
Honestly the idea was foolish to brew a potions one would need a desk and a few appliances not to mention there quite no way a person could make any potion in such a tense atmosphere, since potion require precise measurements.
"Then our only hope is reinforcement. Hopefully, the adventurers can hold out till they arrive"
Ainzarch prayed within his heart while his eyes looked at the corner of the room, there a spear stood support by a wall, it was ornately designed and one could the dust that had covered it, a tell tale sign it has not been used in a while he may have been well past his prime and he was hardly as nimble as he was in his youth but if it came down to it then he may be forced to once again wield his spear and relive his adventurer days.
'Hopefully it won't come to that. They're doing a good job defending this place so far'
He thought as his gaze returned to the fighting adventurers who stood their ground against the undead creatures. Despite his hope Ainzarch knew there must have been a master mind behind all this, skeletons soldiers and death guards were formidable in numbers but by themselves were hardly threatening to a seasoned copper plate as such Ainzarch knew a bigger threat was coming, hopefully the reinforcements would arrive before then.
…..
[Throne room]
The room was filled with various nobles of varying degrees, the four members of the Royal family each seated on their elevated positions, with Gazeff Stronoff standing besides the king and Arthur standing beside the princess, Although her Brother Barbro seemed to be displeased by this.
"What's the course of action do we need to take?"
The entire room was entrenched in a thick and gloomy atmosphere, The king's question was loud and clear, and everyone within the room heard it. The question was about the discovery that the Golden princess had made after examining the reports from the guild. She presented the scenario clearly, The city of E-Rantel may be taken over by the organization known as Zurrernorn, and they probably will use undead to do so.
"My King, the obvious action is to mobilize an army that will deal with the situation"
Marquis Bulloupe threw out the most obvious suggestion, usually he would be volunteering to use his own army for such a task, he used to be a former warrior and His own personal forces are quite skilled in combat this would be a prime opportunity to showcase his loyalty and his value to the kingdom and perhaps be a step closer to earning the title of Duke however he did not want that.
The one who will inherit the throne has been undecided, the race was between Zanac and Barbro however now the princess may have a stake in it, a woman as ruler of a country is unheard of however there's nothing that says its illegal. If the Marquis truly wishes to put Barbro on the throne He has to prioritize the prince's ambitions as such he can't afford to lose the experienced men in his army, the possibility of a civil war is always there and his army would have the advantage in that scenario .
"of course that's the obvious suggestion, his majesty is asking who is willing to volunteer their troops, I personally volunteer about a quarter of mine"
Marquis Raeven stated, earning some murmurs from his fellow nobles. While E-Rantel was territory of the king and thus the king's forces should defend it, if no one puts forth their own forces to aid, the loyalty of the entire noble court is in question, not that it wasn't in question already, the fact that the king did not send out his forces or Gazeff to E-Rantel means he's already thinking about a betrayal from one of the nobles it would be foolish to send out his troops if he could not trust his own vassals.
Marquis Raeven volunteering a quarter of his own Troops as show of loyalty to the kingdom and as the first to volunteer that puts him in good position that will earn him the favour of the king and he can openly criticize the others and force them to contribute earning him more favour with the king and when Zanac Eventually gets the throne the title of Duke will be easy to achieve.
"Your Majesty, I can not help but have doubts about this. Are we certain that this isn't a ploy by Baharuth?"
Marquis Blumrush asked with a laissez-faire attitude. He would rather not have to volunteer his own troops if he could help it. He doesn't have that much man power to begin with. His suggestion caused some murmurs within the room, with some agreeing to his words.
"So you would rather we lose a city just because it might some plot by Baharuth do you–"
The Marquis was interrupted as the doors were swung open and a man entered causing everyone in the room to turn their attention towards the doors, it was incredibly rude and discouraged to interrupt a meeting that was held in the throne room however the royal messenger was exempt from this and could interrupt the meeting if he judged the message to be of high importance.
"Your Majesty A message from the adventurers guild"
"What does it say?"
Forgoing any formality the king hurriedly asked, the timing was quite fortunate, perhaps now he can force the nobles in to volunteering their forces by command, all nobles are required to assist the kingdom in times if crisis regardless of how they feel.
"A request for reinforcements to help deal with a possible undead out break"
The messenger delivered the news and the court bust in to murmurs and whispers as a few of the nobles panicked at the news, the princess' guess had turned out to be true and they had yet to even form a proper strategy of how they were to deal will, should undead truly take over the likely hood that they're being lead by a lich is high and that could put the Re-estize kingdom to ruin.
"Silence!! SILENCE!!!"
The King shouted, and thanks to his elevated position within a very large room he voice was able to be heard and silenced the noise. This was what he hoped for. However, he needed to know something first.
"How much time do you think has passed since the guild sent the message?"
"It shouldn't be more than a day or two, my King"
"then that means we may already be out of time, Marquis Raeven you'll lead the troops. everyone is required to—"
"Father"
The Princess spoke and interrupted her father before he could finish his sentence, she had hoped that there was more time, that way the meeting would take Longer and she could properly evaluated who needed her attention and who needed to be removed but unfortunately that will have to come later.
"Renner what is it? Do you have something to add?"
"Yes I do, I have a suggestion that will likely be more agreeable to everyone and should prove to be fruitful for everyone involved."
She explained in a calm and sultry voice, a voice that many in the room found to be pleasant to hear. Her father was going to force the Nobles to relinquish some number of forces to help with the problem and in doing so would turn a few nobles against him and speed up the need to have him removed from the throne and She can't have that, she still needs him as a shield till she's amassed enough power so him dying would definitely not be pleasant
.....
A/N: this go on break starting 3 weeks from now, and I'll be focusing back on my other fic New God of the forge.