One slash.
Shasuryu’s sword broke in two. Before Shasuryu’s body even hit the ground, Cocytus withdrew his blade, planning to follow through the attack into Zaryusu—
At this moment, Cocytus’ fingers pinching Zaryusu’s sword slipped.
The surprised Cocytus checked his fingers, wondering why the sword that he pinched was sliding forth.
In the misty fog, Cocytus could see that his fingers and the sword were covered in a red liquid.
In an instant, Cocytus understood why his fingers slipped.
— Blood?
Confusion.
Cocytus tried to think back where Zaryusu's sword could have been stained, and understood after seeing Zaryusu’s face through the fog.
The blood Zaryusu smeared on his face wasn’t war paint. It was used to smear his sword.
‘Icy Burst’ wasn’t meant to damage Cocytus or hide Shasuryu’s whereabouts, it was to hide the blood on the sword. That was the reason he had hidden the sword behind his back too.
When Cocytus stopped Zaryusu’s attack the first time, he used his fingers to pinch it. Zaryusu remembered that and bet on the slim chance it will happen again, setting up this scenario with all his wits. A surge of electricity seemed to jump through Cocytus’ brain.
It was back then! No wonder the attack felt so weak! That was the reason! The scheme of using blood to slip through won’t work every time. So he was misleading me, making me feel it was easy to pinch it, so he held back!
The sword slid in slowly, closing in on Cocytus’ pale blue body. Even Cocytus couldn’t stop the sword with Zaryusu’s body weight and might behind it with just two wet fingers.
If the place he pinched it was slightly further away, Cocytus might have been able to do something, but at this distance, there was nothing he could do.
Cocytus was so moved that he shivered.
It needed a bit of luck, but it was a bet that needed every single round to be won. Most importantly— this was not possible without Shasuryu.
Shasuryu probably didn’t know what Zaryusu’s plan was, but the older brother trusted his younger brother completely and sacrificed himself. The meaningless sneak attack and roar was all in the hope of diverting an instant of attention away from his younger brother.
And it was really just an instant.
In that brief moment in time— as Zaryusu was squeezing Frost Pain forth with all his might— the lower jaw of Cocytus moved.
“Amazing—”
The sword slashing at Cocytus— was deflected easily. The body with a faint blue glow did not even have a scratch on it.
This was the result of the power difference between the highest level NPC in Nazarick and the lizardmen.
“— Sorry to say, I possess special ability to temporarily nullify the attack of low tier weapons. If I activate this ability, your attacks will be meaningless.”
It was a splendid strike, even Cocytus felt it was worthy of leaving a mark on his body as a sign of respect to this warrior. However, he couldn’t do this as a Guardian fighting before the Supreme Being.
Cocytus intentionally took half a step back, splashing the mud which soiled his beautiful blue body.
It was just a tiny step back.
A step back didn’t mean anything, even moving back won’t affect anything. Zaryusu was doomed and Cocytus would definitely prevail.
But this step back was the show of praise from the dominatingly strong Cocytus towards the weak Zaryusu.
Zaryusu resigned to his fate, and had a clear smile only those who had done their best could show. Cocytus slashed the Royal Blade God Slayer towards him—
Part 3
“A splendid battle.”
Ainz praised Cocytus who knelt before him.
“Thank you.”
“That might be so, but I believe you understand clearly that we are showing them the whip now, but you need to show them the candy from now on. Do not start a reign of terror.”
“I understand.”
Ainz nodded and looked at the other Guardians in the room.
“Very well. Guardians, listen well. I already said in the throne room that the lizardmen village will be ruled by Cocytus. If there is anything Cocytus needs, do lend him your support. Cocytus, I hope you can engrave loyalty towards Nazarick deep into the hearts of the lizardmen… And to provide them with an elite education… I leave all these to you… Let me know if you need special items like ‘Heaven Feather’. I will also loan some ‘Power Suits’ to you in the meantime.”
In the game YGGDRASIL, it was possible to change race mid way, but it didn’t mean you could switch as you wish. You needed to fulfil several conditions and the change would be irreversible.
One of the conditions was a specific item. For example, you would need the ‘Book of the Dead’ to be a lich. To turn into an imp required ‘Fallen Seeds’. And the ‘Heaven’s Feather’ that Ainz mentioned was a required item to become an angel.
Changing one’s race might be possible in this world, that’s why Ainz couldn’t help sharing his ideas.
“I will seek your advice when the time comes, Ainz-sama. May I ask how you plan to deal with those lizardmen?”
“Which lizardman?”
“Yes, the two lizardmen named Zaryusu and Shasuryu.”
The two who fought til the very end. Their corpses should still be in the wetlands. But what of it?
“I see. Collect their corpses, I will use their bodies as material when I create undead with my special ability.”
“— That would be a pity.”
“Hmmm, what do you mean? Do they have such value?”
When Ainz watched the battle through the Mirror of Remote Viewing, he saw that Cocytus was absolutely dominating, there wasn’t anything else of note.
“... They were weak, but I could see their warrior spirit and fearless resolve in the face of the strong. It is a pity to use them as materials. I think they could become even stronger, maybe unbelievably so. Ainz-sama shouldn’t have done experiments related to resurrecting the dead yet, how about testing it out on them?”
… Does he like those lizardmen?
To be frank, Ainz didn’t know what to feel when he heard the term warrior spirit. He came across the term killing intent in novels and mangas, but didn’t think much of it. It was just like the time when Ainz had warned Narberal about these things, and she had said “Ah, yes, I see, oh~”, that kind of feeling. Similarly, the resonance among warriors was something Ainz didn’t understand.