Chapter 30: Freedom

E-Rantel

Ramposa returned quickly to the fortress city with some nobles and the rest of the warriors of the Warrior Captain. The fast trip was not good for his heart but with those monsters behind them he did not care about his health.

The citizens were surprised looking at Ramposa returning so quickly from the battlefield without his guardian and the army in his back. It made them think that war was lost. Many families in E-Rantel felt sad about their relatives that did not return alive.

The King had lowered his head looking at the cup of water. His eyes were full of tears but he could not let them fall.

How did this happen?

That question was in his head all the time. It was supposed to be a small skirmish and returned home. But who had thought that this will turn into a nightmare? Who had thought that the Empire would bring the legions of hell and the devil himself on the battlefield. No, that can't be called a battlefield. It was a slaughterhouse. He had sent his soldiers(peasants) on the hands of the butchers.

He had just doomed his kingdom. That army might be marching to this city by now and he was standing here. What can he do? He is just a mere old man that can't even walk properly.

"Gazef…"

It was impossible for his loyal Warrior-Captain to survive in that hellscape. Even his son might be inside the stomach of the beast that captured him. That carnage was the beginning of the end for the Kingdom.

Suddenly inside the room came the Vice-Captain. He had been outside in the walls to observe if the enemy was advancing here.

"Your Majesty, we saw three armored dragons flying near the city. The enemy is marching here, we must leave E-Rantel."

The nobles that were silent all this time gasped in shock. The enemy had dragons their ranks. What can be worse than that? On the other hand, Raeven had changed the horse to go immediately to his wife and son.

"And when they reach the capital? Where to escape next?" asked the King with sadness.

The Vice-Captain lowered his head. He was the King, he is supposed to protect the citizens and not run away like a coward, but this time was different. The heroism will be crushed in front of that army.

"Your Majesty, we have made an oath. We will protect the ruler of this land no matter what danger lies in our way."

That loylty was wasted on him, but he had to listen to the man.

"Fine then. Let's go." said Ramposa while raising.

They went outside and took their horses to ride to Re Estize.

Ramposa felt wrong to leave the people of this city like this. They are as important as those of Re Estize, but this will be the first city to be invaded by the enemy. He hoped with all his heart for them to stay strong.

Rampos III disappeared from E-Rantel without notice, leaving the city at the mercy of fate.

The city guards upon the walls were looking at a massive army coming at the direction of E-Rantel. They were more than twenty thousand. The city guards thought they were lucky for not going to Katze Plains to fight the knights, but to think the war will come here was unbelievable. There were 260 soldiers in this city and they can not fight an army like this.

The only way for survival was to surrender without fighting, but the enemy had in their ranks undead, goblins, beastmen, elves and… humans. How can the humans work together with those creatures? It made no sense for the city guards. The citizens were alarmed from the bell of the tower and all went inside their homes.

The army stopped their march near the gates of E-Rantel and were not afraid if the soldiers upon the walls shoot them with arrows.

In front of the army, upon a black war-horse was a female in dark armor. She was a young girl with blonde hair tied into a braid and had lightly fair skin.

She looked upon the walls and shouted.

"Soldiers of E-Rantel, I am General Enri Emmot of Carne Fortress. This land now is a territory of the Sorcerer King of the Sorcerer Kingdom of Nazarick Ainz Ooal Gown! I Enri Emmot, order you to open the gates!" declared the young general.

The soldiers were stuck like statues and did not know what to do. This was an order from the new lord and if they don't open the gates…

"Will the undead kill us?"

Someone that had a higher position, asked her out of fear. He really did not want to talk because he is nothing but a commoner. He had never been in this situation.

An undead that had crown upon his head, came forth. The soldiers started to shiver from fear.

"We are not barbarians. We swear in the name of the Supreme One that we will not harm the innocent. Our lord wants to rule this land peacefully and bring an end to the nobles that has sent you to war all these years, so please open the gates."

The soldiers looked at each other. He said to bring an end to the nobles? That was like a dream coming to life. They all hated the nobles, so if the words of this undead are to be trusted, then they would not be worried anymore about the nobles coming to their homes and sending them to Katze Plains.

"All right, we will open the gates."

Actually, they need an approval from the mayor of this city, Panasolei Gruze Day Rettenmaier, but it will be rude to let such army to wait outside.

The soldiers opened the gates and the army started to marche inside the city. Some citizens had come outside their homes to see them. The undead warriors and the demihumans scared them, but at last there were a lot of humans and elves that looked like knights in dark armor.

The adventurers that has slayed many goblins in their career, now they were seeing a regular army of 5,000 goblins. They did not know what to say. All the goblins had awesome gear and the beastmen had powerful magic weapons.

The demihumans are known to eat humans, but these here were completely different. They had the aura of true warriors like the undead knights that were marching after them.

"Ah, I'm glad we did not use force."

The one who spoke was a boy with short, bowl-cut blonde hair that covers half his face. He wore as a magic caster and stood near Enri. He joined Enri as soon as she told him about the Supreme Being and his plans. And now, he was her husband...

Enri was strong, because she was trained by the Death Knights and Crypt Lord to be a warrior and a great general. Because of her hard training, she was able to summon an army of 5,000 goblins. And Ainz was shocked from the secret of the Horn of the Goblin General that he and all YGGDRASIL players considered a trash item. For this achievement, Enri was praised by the Sorcerer King.

E-Rantel now was in complete control of Nazarick as the flags of Re Estize fell and the crimson flags of the Sorcerer Kingdom rises. There was no resistance that will try to stop them.

Some priests of the four gods were staring at Enri and Nfirea with angry faces. Enri did not accept this, she owned them nothing.

Suddenly a priest could not wait anymore and yelled at Enri.

"HERETIC!"

And the other priests followed him, but not the citizens, they did not want to anger the new lord of the land.

But the priests shut their mouth because the soldiers had bought some wood boxes and were leaving them near the doors of the poor families. Members of the families opened those boxes and what they found inside was food and some gold coins from Nazarick Kingdom.

Their faces, from confused, turned to surprised and happy faces. Their former ruler had never done this before. They all started to respect Enri and Ainz Ooal Gown, but the priest could not stay calm.

"Don't accept anything from these heretics!"

Now the citizens were annoyed from the old fool, but they could not say anything to him because he was the one who use healing magic when they or the children are sick, but it was not the time to act like that. It was winter and they will starve if they don't take the food that was given from the new king.

"What is your problem?!"

Enri dismounted from her horse and went to the priest.

"You are a traitor of humanity!"

"How?"

"Because you have brought all these abominations in our lands! You have betrayed humanity siding with the undead! The gods will not forget this- you will be judged Enri Emmot!"

"Gods you say- Where were the gods when the knights of the Slane Theocracy attacked my village… slaughtered the villagers of Carne… killed my parents in front of me and my little sister?

"WHERE?!"

The priest was shocked from the killing intent of the young general and stepped back.

"The Slane Theocracy is supposed to protect humanity, but they are nothing but a bunch of bastards who massacre villagers at night and cry them in the morning!

"Only one true GOD descended from the heavens and saved our villages from doom, and he was the Supreme One Ainz Ooal Gown! You are nothing but a worm! Get the fuck out of here!

The priest has become wet from fear and terror. This girl was someone that he should not mess with. He turned and ran away with the other priests.

Many citizens begin to come near Enri.

"Thank you very much!"

They begin to respect her and Ainz for their generosity, giving them food, bed sheets and money. The can ask nothing more.

"Think nothing of it. A great future awaits us."

Arwintar

In the new territory of the Sorcerer Kingdom of Nazarick, the situation was calm at the beginning. The citizens were on the road cheering for the arrival of the knights but they were surprised by the new army. The flags of the Empire were nowhere to be seen. The knights were holding crimson flags that belonged to Nazarick Kingdom.

After establishing Arwintal under their control, then things begin to wild. The Death Warrior were running on the streets and the citizens did not know why, but they understood that latter. The soldiers were arresting nobles and criminals.

With some information from the citizens who were willing to work with the Death Warriors, they were able to find the unwanted rats.

A group of knights and Death Warriors were walking on a neighborhood. In front of them, was a young man. He was leading the soldiers somewhere. After five minute, the young man stopped in front of a building and pointed his finger.

"Here it is."

The Death Warrior approached and knocked harshly at the door. He knocked one more time and someone inside opened the door slowly and not completely.

"H-how can I help you gentlemen?"

"Come to light."

The man with thin black hair came out as the undead warrior ordered.

"What kind of business are you doing here?" asked the Death Warrior.

"W-We make b-bread and sell it to the stores."

The man was shaking from fear and was having trouble with his voice. The crimson points of the Death Warrior were staring at his soul.

"I don't see smoke coming out of the chimney."

"I-It's a d-day off."

"Oh, and what are you doing here then?"

"I-I am…

The man did not know what to say. His mind was going crazy and his legs could not hold him.

The Death Warrior grabbed him from the shirt and pushed him at the knights. He gave a nod the others and went inside. There was a reception at the entrance and this did not look like a bread oven but more like a hotel.

They climbed the stairs and opened the first door with force. There was only a bed and a shelf inside. Upon the bed lay a female. The Death Warrior came closer to see her clearly and remove the bed sheet. The girl had her ears cut that told him that she was an elf. Her body was skinny from malnutrition and looked like a corpse.

But the Death Warrior felt another presence inside the room. He checked under the bed and saw a naked body.

"Come out you little fucker!"

He grabbed the person from the leg. It was a man and he was screaming to escape from the warrior.

"Please! Please don't hurt me! I'm a noble!"

"Even better."

The Death Warrior grabbed his head and hit it on the shelf breaking it. The head of the man was covered in blood but he was still alive. He still was begging not to hurt him.

"Get him to prison!"

The human knight immediately obeyed and captured the man. There were some other customers that were captured in the other rooms. The Death Warrior took the she elf and covered her with the bed sheet. They came out from the brothel with all the elf slaves.

On the two sides of the street, the citizens felt bad for the abused elves. Now they could see the dark side of Arwintar and understood why the Death Warriors were running like beasts. The citizens had nothing but respect for the gentle undead and their new King who was trying to remove the "disease".

A Nazgul was patrolling the streets towards an area that contained a variety of shops. The citizens stayed away from him. His aura was more fighting than that of the Death Warriors. He checked all the narrow alleys if there were serious problems.

Now he stopped at an inn called "The Singing Apple Pavilion". From the outside, it seemed a bit outdated, but the interior was surprisingly tidy and in good condition.

When the lone Nazgul got inside the bar, all the client froze like someone turned off with an off button. For some simple citizens was not a problem. They just stared at the lone undead on time and then turn to drink. But for the workers was a trouble. Many of them were being arrested for doing illegal and dirty jobs. The were about to leave this profession and find another job that will not put them in a bad situation. The workers hoped for the undead to leave the bar.

Suddenly, the Nazgul walked towards a table because something had captured his attention. There he saw three girls, but something was wrong here. The girls were staying on the floor like pets waiting for the owner. Their clothes were made from the plainest fabrics available. The girls were shocked by undead that was coming towards them.

"What are you doing there?"

The Nazgul was trying to make a normal voice.

"W-We are waiting m-master Uzruth."

The one who answered was the pink-haired girl.

Master… Hold one.

The Nazgul approached closer and saw ears of the girls. They were cut. This meant only one thing.

"Get up."

"B-But master will-"

"I said, get up!"

The girls obeyed and raised on their feet. They did not know what will happen and were shivering by his presence. The endless darkness on that hood was scary.

"Come after me."

As they begin to walk, a harsh voice was heard inside the bar. All the clients turned their heads where the voice came from. But the elves know that terrible voice very well.

"Who told to move slaves?!"

The one who shouted was a man with combed back light blonde hair pulled into a top knot with a ponytail flowing under the wire holding back his hair and sharp focused eyes. He was wearing a white dress shirt which parts just over the stomach, with white trousers and midnight black armor plates with gold trims. His armor pieces were lightweight to allow freer motion, and as a swordsman, carries a nagamaki with a tassel at the end.

"We-We a-apologize!"

The girls know how ruthless their master Erya Uzruth is. There will be a harsh punishment for them. The elves had lowered their heads deep, but Erya will not show mercy. For disobeying his orders, he will beat them.

Erya walked towards the elves and raised his hand to hit them, but suddenly he was not able to move his hand. He turned his head and saw the armored hand of the undead creature with a hood that had grabbed his arm.

"What the hell are you? Release me now!" shouted Erya while trying to free his arm.

"So you are the slave owner huh?"

Erya could not stand anymore and grabbed his sword with the other hand. He hit the undead on his neck, but his sword got broken. The eyes of Erya and everyone in the inn went wide from what they saw. They thought that he will be cut, but no. The pieces of the sword were on the floor.

"I-Impossible! What kind of martial art is that?"

The Nazgul was undead, but truthfully he was tired from his crap. He released his arm and punched Erya hard on the stomach.

"Guuuaahhh!"

And again, the Nazgul hit Erya on the back making him to fall on the floor. The client were all gasped in surprise what they had witnesses. Two Death Warriors entered inside to see what was happening here.

"Get this filth out of my sight!"

"Yes lieutenant."

The Death Warriors immediately captured Erya and went outside to sent him on the prison and later to sent him and the others to Katze Plains.

The three elves stood there shocked and waiting what happens next.

"Come after me." spoke the undead with a calm voice.

The elves followed him outside the inn.

"W-What will h-hapen to us m-master?"

The one with blue hair spoke with a shaky voice. They thought that he was their master now.

"I am not you master, and you are not slaves anymore. I am sending you to the others to feed you. Latter we will give you a house so you can live peacefully."

The eyes of the elves were filled with tears. Not tears of sadness or joy but just tears. For ages their life had been a torture. They were nothing but a piece of meat to pleasure their master or meat shield when they went to work on dangerous missions.

Now, the one who saved them were not their fellow elves, half elves or humans. But by a being that is known to hate life. Finally they can walk without fear in the road or without someone with a whip on their backs.

The elven slaves are free.