Chapter 35: Lizardmen part 1

Atlas left for Cocytus' base in the Great Forest, arriving on,y within a single hour to travel. The base seemed to be an obvious rouse even from Atlas' yes, but could nevertheless be a sufficient substitute in the eyes of the far less advanced Lizardmen.

Because of Atlas' relentless expansion in the Great Forest, the Lizardmen tribes had unified quicker than expected, already forming a small army by the time Ainz' envoy first arrived. With their primitive weapons they could probably be on par with a single cell of Necropolis skeletons.

"Atlas-dono, I see you have arrived for the first event." Cocytus spoke as Atlas entered the building.

"It would be an insult to keep a floor Guardian waiting." Atlas responded.

"Very respectful indeed. Well then, we have launched a series of small raiding parties to thin out the Lizardmen villages, but they seem to be defending too well."

"I see."

"They have established a central village of sorts, with most of their best warriors stationed there, so far our skeletons have been unable to breach their defences."

"I can spare a border to wipe out their main village within an hour." Atlas spoke.

"No. Ainz-sama wants us to use our current troops for this task."

"Very well, so what is our battle strategy for our next skirmish?" Atlas asked.

"Ainz-sama has spared us an experimental elder lick and a small army of skeletons, we will use them to directly extinguish the Lizardmen presence." Cocytus announced.

"I may be a skeleton, but I definitely know that ordinary skeletons are nothing but bones, they are not even worth a thousandth of a Brother." Atlas spoke.

"Then what do you suggest?" Cocytus asked.

"Let me have a look at the soldiers, I promise to be effective." Atlas spoke.

"How effective?"

"Effective enough to convert his raiding party into a siege engine."

"And how do you suppose that we do that?"

"Lord Cocytus, please lead me to the soldiers."

Cocytus lead Atlas to the storing area where all of the low level skeletons were, standing by the entrance as he watched the latter cast an ability.

"Mass convert low tier undead!"

Atlas reached his right hand forward, shooting out a wave of negative energy which filled the location in a strong aura of death. Suddenly the skeletons turned black and then back to white as their armour turned from rags to plate. Their rusted axes and swords turned to weapons of pure craftsmanship, and their auras became much stronger. They stood in a box formation as they finished the conversion, awaiting their orders.

"Brothers, this being by the entrance is your grand general, Cocytus. You will take orders from him, make sure to bring glory to Nazarick, and to me, your Eldest Brother!" Atlas announced.

"YES ELDEST BROTHER!"

"Atlas-dono, what level are these skeletons which you call brothers?" Cocytus asked.

"All of them should be level 30 because of my my recent level gain." Atlas explained.

"..."

"Those Lizardmen will instantly die if they face even one of these skeletons." Cocytus spoke.

"That is true, Lord Cocytus."

"What if we only send a single one of my brothers to demonstrate the power we possess?" Atlas suggested.

"In doing so, we can give them a sense of false hope if they do manage to defeat one, letting them feel despair when we reveal that we still have an army to utilise." Atlas continued.

"Atlas-dono, I entrust you with this next skirmish. Just make sure not to cripple them, I want to talk to Ainz-sama about letting them become subordinates of Nazarick." Cocytus announced.

"Very well, perhaps Nazarick can still find a use for such pitiful beings. The ones above me are merciful indeed." Atlas spoke.

"Those Lizardmen have some good warriors." Cocytus commented.

"Even in this flesh form that I am in, I can still exterminate all of their villages within half a day." Atlas said.

"I have no doubt about that, but warriors can be tempered, so make sure not to kill the warriors with promise." Cocytus requested.

"Very well, Lord Cocytus."

"You heard the grand general! Do not kill the warriors with promise should you find one! Bring glory to Nazarick!"

Atlas and Cocytus left the location, returning to their temporary base of operations. The time before the next skirmish was still lengthy, leaving Atlas with some time to rest and ponder on different topics. One of these topics was whether or not he should attempt to use his newest ability: "create mid-tier undead". Using this ability may be a great idea in a final clutch to finish a battle, but the catch is that it can only be used once in a year. This means that Atlas only has one try to create the perfect general of sorts.

Atlas pondered on the topic for a brief while longer until he decided to take a short nap to enjoy the comforts of sleep.

[Atlas, perhaps you should check on how your fiancé is doing without you.] the Stavros suggested.

[I am sure Narberal is working very hard to support Lord Ainz in her current mission, perhaps I will ask one of my spies to relay some information to me]

Atlas established a mental link to his information array, gaining access to the information of Momon and Nabe's current adventure.

"I see... a young noble dares to propose to Narberal. Shame that he now has to die-"

[No! Do not do that, he is useful to Nazarick, even if it is nearly by a negligible degree.]

[fine. The man will be spared, for now...]