♦ ♦ ♦
The lizardmen escaped, scattering like the spawns of a spider.
Zaryusu watched this scene calmly. No, Zaryusu had been watching its every move since the powerful enemy showed itself. Watching the undead that was spreading the flames of death.
The movements of this foe was different from the unintelligent enemy earlier, he was probably the enemy commander.
The undead started using the wide area ‘fireball’ attack when the five Head Warriors were about a hundred metres from it. Even though they attacked from five different directions, all the Head Warriors attempting the assault were burned alive en route.
“It is time for us to fight.”
Zaryusu nodded in agreement with Zenberu, Crusch gave her consensus too. She acknowledged that the time when she might sacrifice in the battle field had come.
“That’s right, it is our turn. That one is too powerful. This is probably the right hand man of that Supreme One and the commander of this army… At the very least, it must be an ace.”
“Indeed, it is impossible for anyone to control several undead of that level. But how should we do this? It is a little too far away.”
Crusch’s question gave Zaryusu a headache.
Their aim was not to sacrifice themselves in battle, so a strategy was necessary.
Zaryusu and Zenberu couldn’t fight at such a long distance, they had to close in for melee attacks. And the problem was this distance of one hundred metres.
Zaryusu and the others could take a couple of hits from fireball, but they will suffer more than a couple of attacks before they close the gap. And the real test begins after reaching the target. It was easy to see that taking the attack of the fireball from the front will kill them.
“Such a despairingly long distance.”
“Ah… Really, I didn’t know one hundred metres could be so long.”
Zaryusu’s group thought about how to reach the enemy without injuries— or with minimal injuries.
“How about tunneling through the wetlands?”
“Even for the powers of a druid… that would be difficult. It would be great if we could use ‘Invisibility’.”
They could sneak close immediately using ‘Flight’ after casting ‘Invisibility’. But these were not among the spells a druid could learn.
“How about making a shield while we advance?”
“Making a shield will take too much time.”
“What about dismantling... a house?”
Zenberu smiled wryly as he knew the proposal he just said wouldn’t work. The enemy was attacking with fireball explosion, even if they could protect one side, the heat would still get in from the side. There was no time to craft a full body shield to protect against the heat.
“Oh right… there is another way.”
“What is it, Zaryusu?”
Crusch who was a little afraid asked. Did I make such a scary expression? Zaryusu thought. But it couldn’t be helped, he was so troubled that he wanted to curse out.
“No… I just… found a shield.”
♦ ♦ ♦
Iguvua nodded with satisfaction at the current situation.
It was progressing smoothly. The two Blood Meat Hulks were still battling, but he was making good progress towards the village.
There were several foolish lizardmen who wanted to charge him, but they seemed to understand the futility of their action after witnessing the power of fireball. The five that spread out before the assault had the best record right now, but they only made it to fifty metres.
It was as though Iguvua was walking alone in the wilderness as he advanced silently. He might pity the lizardmen as weaklings, but he didn’t let his guard down.
It was a short distance to the target village. He planned to shoot fireball consecutively and raze the houses together with the lizardmen.
But the lizardmen would definitely try to stop him from reaching the village. It should be about time for someone to attack. Iguvua who was musing about this found himself proven right.
“... Oh, I see.”
Iguvua saw a hydra heading straight for him.
If that was the ace of the lizardmen, he will crush it with overwhelming strength and sap their will to fight. That would make the destruction of the village simpler.
To play it safe, Iguvua checked for other enemies in the surrounding and the sky. After confirming it was clear, Iguvua stopped and waited leisurely for the hydra to enter his attack range.
When the hydra got into the region that was hard to determine whether if it was within the attack range, it started charging. That’s right, it ran full speed towards Iguvua.
“Fools, you think you can cover this distance with your snail-like pace? Beasts will just be beasts.”
Iguvua laughed mockingly and shot the fireball he conjured at the hydra.
The fireball flew straight and scored a direct hit on the hydra. The eruption of flames engulfed the hydra.
Although the hydra staggered, it continued to advance. It carried on charging even though it was on fire. No, the flames dissipated instantly, that was just the imagination of Iguvua. The scene before Iguvua conveyed the exemplary determination of the hydra.
Iguvua frowned with displeasure. His pride was seriously wounded when the beast endured the attack.
Indeed, the hydra had damage resistance buff cast on it, but it wasn’t any of the high tier spells and could not negate all the damage.
… I remember hydras have the special ability of fast regeneration… But it shouldn’t work against fire attacks… No matter, it has high vitality since it is a monster. It is no surprise for it to tank one hit.
Iguvua consoled himself that way, but he could not appease his wrath. Iguvua was a special creature created by the Supreme Being, Ainz Ooal Gown. It is disrespectful for the enemy not to fall from his attack.
Iguvua casted an icy glare that was the opposite of his seething anger at the approaching hydra.
“... How unpleasant, die!”
He fired a fireball once more, engulfing the hydra in flames again. It even gave the illusion of charring flesh from such a distance. The wounds might not be fatal, but it would make it hesitate from advancing further.
But—
“— Why isn’t it stopping? Why is it still coming?”