Demiurge bowed and moved to the table in the corner of the room and picked up the Infinity Haversack. He presented it to Ainz respectfully. Ainz took out one scroll from within.

He then activated the magic within the scroll.

An invisible ethereal sensory organ was conjured. The sensory organ can't penetrate magical barriers, but it can pass through normal walls regardless of their thickness. If it couldn’t get in, it meant that a powerful enemy they had to be wary of was there.

After linking the sensory organ with the mirror of remote viewing so the Guardians could also see, Ainz started maneuvering the sensory organ that looked like a floating eyeball.

“Let’s take a look inside the house.”

Ainz chose an old broken house nearby and moved the sensory organ in. Even if the interior was dark, it would show up as bright as day once the organ got in.

In that room, a white lizardman was being pressed down with its tail lifted up. A black lizardman was riding on top.

Baffling.

Ainz didn’t understand what was going on in the very beginning. The next instant, that changed to confusion as to why they are doing that thing at a time like this.

Ainz then moved the sensory organ outside silently.

“......”

“…………”

Feeling troubled, Ainz placed his palm on his face. The Guardians by his side didn’t know what to say and looked at each other.

Demiurge: “— What an unpleasant bunch. Cocytus will be attacking soon and they still have the nerve to do this?!”

Aura: “That’s right, that’s right!”

Mare: “Ah, well, ermm…”

Shalltear: “Demiurge is right. Let’s teach them a lesson!”

Albedo: “How envious…”

Ainz lift a hand to stop the chatter of the Guardians.

“... Forget it, they will be dead soon. I saw in a movie once that desperate situations like these will stimulate their instinct to reproduce.”

Ainz nodded to affirm his own opinion.

Demiurge: “You are right!”

Aura: If it's only this much, we can let them off~

Shalltear: “Right, right!”

Mare: “Ermm, ah, that…”

Albedo: “Me too, with Ainz-sama…”

Ainz: “... All of you be quiet.”

After all the Guardians shut their mouth, Ainz sighed.

“... I think I lost my drive, but never mind. There shouldn’t be anyone we need to look out for in the village. But we can’t drop our guard, someone might be heading our way. Aura…”

Ainz suddenly stopped moving and stared at the two children.

Oh no! I messed up! They are not old enough for sex ed yet… No, it’s way too soon for that!

Ainz felt he could empathize with how a father feels when an intense sex scene comes up while watching TV with the whole family.

What are parents supposed to answer when their children ask them ‘where do babies come from’? Shit! I did let Simmering Teapot’s kids saw that kind of scene— Eh, it should be fine. Ignoring Albedo, Demiurge… will probably explain it from a medical angle… That will be the back up plan. Shalltear… she seemed to be fine. Anyway, I will remember this as an issue to be resolved later.

After pushing the problem to the back of his mind, Ainz coughed and said:

“If the security net reveals anything, all the Guardians and I will move out together.”

If a player from YGGDRASIL did exist, Ainz didn’t plan to honor the agreement he made to let the lizardmen village go. If the other party won’t join them, they will be destroyed by Nazarick’s full might to prevent intel from leaking. If that was the case, Ainz will destroy the village even if he had to throw in all the forces from the eighth floor.

Ainz shook off the guilt of betraying the promise he made with Cocytus. If it was for the sake of something of the utmost importance, a white lie could smooth things over.

“... Alright then, now we wait for the show to start… and admire Cocytus’ combat prowess.”

Part 2

Four hours passed in a flash.

The lizardmen warriors were already gathering in the front gate of the village— in the wetlands where the ice was melting. After the intense battle several days ago, there wasn’t many lizardmen warriors left.

They numbered 316.

Lizardmen that were not warriors would not be taking part because Shasuryu said “The enemy is few, having too many people will only get in the way”.

It seemed reasonable at first, but it didn’t hold water.

Zaryusu stood far from the lizardmen, watching the gathering lizardmen warriors.

Everyone had warpaint representing their ancestors on them, their face showed will as tough as steel. They seemed to think they wouldn’t lose.

The lizardmen around them cheered the warriors on. In that group, expressions of unease could be seen clearly.

To keep the anxiety in his heart from showing, Zaryusu worked hard to show a poker face in front of the other lizardmen, keeping them away from the truth of this fight being a sacrificial offering to the Overlord of Death.

This was a battle where the Overlord of Death was going to display his might to the lizardmen, to completely crush the lizardmen’s will to resist. They had no chance of winning from the very start. Shasuryu’s words from earlier actually entailed the wish to keep the sacrifice to the minimum.

Zaryusu averted his eyes from the lizardmen and glared at the enemy territory with sharp eyes.

The skeleton army was rooted in the same spot, not moving an inch. The figure of a monster by the name of Cocytus could not be seen around them. It couldn’t be a skeleton, he is someone the Overlord of Death trusted, there is no way he is a minion level monster. He must be someone whose will is so obviously strong that you can even feel it to the tip of your tail with just one look.

The sound of a large creature moving in the wetlands could be heard from behind the anxious Zaryusu—

“— Hey, Zaryusu.”

— Zenberu greeted nonchalantly as usual. Even though they were heading towards death, Zenberu was his usual self.

“Our morale seems to be at its peak.”