My family runs an adventurer's guild.

Phil replied, "...Now that the weather has warmed up and the punitive expeditionary force of the Kingdom of Riyestege has almost assembled, let's use their lives as a warning to others and nip the root of all this trouble in the bud!"

Ainz, the Overlord, a max-level, high-spending player, readily agreed – it was just a matter of crushing a bunch of mobs anyway.

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

Southeastern part of the Kingdom of Ri. Yestije, the main camp of the Kingdom's punitive expeditionary force.

Accompanied by the sounds of drums and horns, groups of bandits and mercenaries from the former mountains, dressed in a motley collection of clothes, arrogantly carried bloodied heads, as well as captured flags, weapons, and valuables, to the punitive expeditionary camp to claim rewards and glory.

"...The Morning Star Legion routed an enemy reconnaissance team (actually solo players), capturing a flag, a powerful bow, and beheading two enemies!"

"...The Thunder Regiment annihilated the enemy supply train (trading players), seized three wagons, fifty bags of wheat, and killed fifteen goblins!"

"...The [Golden Egg] mercenary group recaptured Garr Village, seizing one magic wand, more than twenty swords, and beheading seventeen enemies!"

"...[The Death Sword Squad] recaptured Shak Village, Kira Village, and Saka Town, decapitating two hundred level 100 enemies! Countless enemies were defeated!"

……

Basket after basket of human heads, fingers, and ears were dumped onto the open ground in front of the camp gate, instantly filling the air with a pungent stench of decay. Along the roads on both sides of the camp gate, rows of stakes were erected, each one studded with the severed heads of "enemy soldiers."

Anyone unfortunate enough to smell it would feel a churning in their stomach, or at least a vague nausea.

However, those martial artists who brought the severed heads remained calm and composed, as if demonstrating their courage.

In particular, several young noblemen who claimed to have "risked great dangers," "ventured deep behind enemy lines," and "fought alongside mercenaries" were covering their noses with perfumed handkerchiefs while endlessly boasting about their achievements, truly exaggerating their accomplishments... as if they had previously charged into the Sorcerer King's palace with swords and fought their way in and out seven times, rather than merely ambushing and killing a few unlucky fellows in the wilderness.

—They might even have just watched from the sidelines, without actually doing anything...

The scribes, who were from minor noble families, surprisingly put on a friendly face in front of these "uncouth people," recording their beheadings and spoils one by one, and patiently listening to their various boasts until the very end.

Unless someone is utterly shameless enough to use the heads of women and children to make up the numbers and cheat for credit, it will not provoke an unbearable outrage.

Of course, there were also some unlucky mercenary groups, and even some noble sons who had come along to gain credit and prestige, who were unfortunately killed by the skilled players in the battle... But at this moment, they naturally wouldn't show up and spoil the fun.

Despite feeling somewhat uncomfortable with the bustling scene before him, Prince Balbro was in an exceptionally good mood.

Because all of this was his suggestion...

Although the opinions of several noble friends were "combined," the credit for launching the preliminary battle should undoubtedly be attributed to him as the proposer.

Before the main army can be mobilized, use the righteous cause of national mobilization, royal pardons, and various empty titles and appointments as bounties to recruit all sorts of scattered soldiers and ruffians to harass the territory controlled by the Sorcerer King and plunder various spoils of war to replenish military supplies.

In this way, the kingdom can strike the enemy in advance without spending much money, and also eliminate unstable factors in the rear.

Whether it was the Sorcerer King's henchmen who died, or those arrogant mercenaries who coveted rewards, it was a good thing for the kingdom.

Seeing how perfect his strategy was, Prince Balbro couldn't help but laugh with pleasure.

To be honest, although I've always thought of myself as not very bright, it seems that's not the case. Prince Balbro was deeply moved by the fact that such talent was still dormant within him, and resolved to gain even greater prestige in the upcoming battles…

Meanwhile, looking at the gaping, grotesque heads, Captain Gazef, the strongest warrior of the Kingdom of Reyestig, felt heavy-hearted.

In fact, when the eldest prince Balbro proposed recruiting mercenaries to engage in preliminary battles with the enemy before the main army set out, Captain Gazef was very opposed, because he knew very well what kind of cruel and greedy mercenary groups those who were both soldiers and bandits were.

According to the eldest prince's strategy, this practically provides them with a legitimate reason to plunder and kill innocent people and claim credit for their crimes!

When bag after bag of rotting human heads, along with all sorts of flags, swords, and provisions, were piled up outside the camp gates, the others, especially those official bandits who had transformed themselves into raising the national flag, perhaps saw the glory and honor of victory.

But Gazef seemed to see it all: in some remote village, bandits and brigands, armed with knives and spears and carrying warrants, were menacingly ordering ragged peasants to load their grain and valuables onto carts. Then, without mercy, they would behead the peasants, stuffing their heads into sacks as proof of their achievements… After such a commotion, would the local peasants still have any loyalty to the kingdom?

However, Gazef's protests and reminders were completely ignored by the nobles—according to them, if the peasants in the occupied territories did not spontaneously rise up and take up arms to fight the Sorcerer King, then they had betrayed the kingdom, were traitors, and should be killed by everyone without any pity...

"Alas, it seems we can only try to curb this appalling practice after we have recovered the lost territory..." Captain Gerdov sighed, as he caught a glimpse of a disheveled messenger galloping towards them on horseback, seemingly shouting something.

When Gerdov finally heard the messenger's message clearly, his expression changed instantly.

"...The Sorcerer King! The Sorcerer King's army has left the city! Countless monsters are approaching our camp!"

Chapter 176, All you need to do is shout "666"

On the open fields outside the fortress city of Yelantil, a massive and terrifying army appeared out of nowhere and was slowly assembling.

—Golems, Death Knights, Liches, Vampires, Demons, Ogres, Goblins… and an endless array of skeletons…

Although the residents of the fortress city of Ye-Rantil had gradually become accustomed to the presence of alien races and monsters since accepting the rule of "Magic King" Ainz, such a massive and terrifying army of monsters still touched a nerve with them.

Therefore, the moment this massive army appeared, the native inhabitants who were still outside the city quickly retreated inside. Even the game players who had descended into this world dared not get too close to this seemingly "fierce" army of monsters, and only dared to observe from a distance.

It must be said that there's a certain amount of masochism in human nature, especially when someone discovers they can't die no matter what they do. They often become obsessed with courting death in a masochistic way: just like Deadpool, the protagonist of "Deadpool," the Spider-Man-imitation comedian.

Although they are subjects of a hierarchical fantasy medieval feudal kingdom, the players of the Golden Dragon Kingdom are relatively conservative in nature, even cautious, and far less imaginative and unrestrained than players on modern Earth.

However, as time went on, after gradually understanding what "never dying in the game" really meant, they also gradually came to like the common characteristic of "courting death" among players, and began to learn all sorts of creative ways to die. Recently, the number of players who have been knocked away by the Death Knight, bitten to death by the Vampire Bride, or trampled by the Golem because of their recklessness has already exceeded three digits.

There were even some audacious playboy players who went so far as to try to seduce and flirt with the vampire loli Shalltear.

As a result, this audacious player who dared to flirt with girls was naturally enraged by Ainz, who, while his head glowed green (due to the passive magic of "Forced Calm"), shouted "Insolent scoundrel!" and swung his heavy metal staff, sending him flying into a shooting star in the sky...

Of course, as a veteran player, Ainz understood the players' reckless nature, so he calmed down after killing him.

Because they recognized that the monster army before them, although belonging to the same faction, was still an entity that could not be provoked—as many players who had been forced to log off and start over due to malicious provocations had attested—the players were still cautious about this.

Meanwhile, on the announcement channel for players of the Golden Dragon Kingdom, public announcements about the [Great Battle] began to be played on a loop.

"...Extremely intense! Extremely exciting! The great battle between the Sorcerer King and the Kingdom of Ri. Estize is about to erupt!"

"...The Sorcerer King's army has already assembled and set off outside the fortress city of Yelantil. Those who want to see the battle, come along! Latecomers will not be waited for!"

"...Don't worry about winning or losing, this battle is a sure victory—with max-level gear, how could we possibly lose to crush newbie monsters?!"

"...A massive 666-player battle! We're waiting for you! An unprecedentedly grand battlefield awaits your performance! Wield your swords and display the prowess of a true warrior! Even if you're just a nobody, you can at least stand back and cheer..."

—Although it contained many words that players of the Golden Dragon Kingdom couldn't understand, the contempt for the enemy was obvious.

In short, while many players in the red-light district of the fortress city of Ye. Lantier indulge in a life of pleasure and revelry, immersing themselves in the alluring (and refined) charm of the "online (elderly) prostitutes (players)," they show little interest in the bloody battles of war.

However, many players also rushed to see the "large-scale live-action war movie" after hearing the news.

—As the saying goes, "The most important things in life are killing and having sex." While some people may prefer having sex, there are just as many who prefer killing.

Thus, behind Ainz Ooal Gown's Nazarick army, another chaotic "battlefield tour group" appeared.

There were even several player teams that had been farming dungeons in the wild. Before Ainz Ooal Gown and his army even arrived at the battlefield, they had already spontaneously led the goblins they had summoned, along with some native humans, toward the assembly point of the Reestege Kingdom's punitive expeditionary force.

In the following days, unsurprisingly, a series of armed clashes broke out between small groups of troops from both sides.

As the top ace of the Kingdom of Riyestej, Captain Gazef was naturally ordered to participate in the interception and killing of small enemy units.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

In the early morning mist, an army quietly approached a simple camp consisting of about a dozen tents.

The two goblin soldiers who were originally patrolling outside the camp were killed by the army's scouts before they could even raise the alarm.

Then, accompanied by the "thump-thump" of the bowstring being pulled and the shriek of a foreign object tearing through the air, sharp arrows rained down between the tents and huts, immediately stirring up patches of blood and tragic cries.

"...The enemy is attacking! Get up!"

"...Ouch! It hurts! It hurts!"

But before the men in the camp could fully don their armor and emerge, another hail of arrows, accompanied by sparks of fire, rained down from the sky, instantly igniting the tents in a crimson inferno. The canvas tents burst into flames in an instant, and the palisades collapsed in the fire.

The flames also startled the warhorses in the camp, causing them to break free of their tethers in a panic and run wildly, further increasing the chaos.

"...Very good! Now attack! All troops, follow me!"

Captain Gazef, wielding his longsword, led his men in a charge into the enemy camp. Meanwhile, several other officers launched a surprise attack on the burning camp from another direction—intelligence indicated that the enemy forces that had been harassing the kingdom's supply train and ambushing lone soldiers and knights were lying in wait here. Although they were merely low-level, scattered soldiers, they had caused the kingdom considerable trouble.

Fortunately, the kingdom's scouts finally caught up with the group and found their camp.

The next step, naturally, was to deploy a large force to encircle and annihilate them.

Although the monsters and enemies in the camp did not flee in terror after the attack, but put up a fierce resistance, they were quickly defeated and collapsed after a fierce battle—after all, they were too few in number, while the kingdom had deployed a large number of elite troops.

Then, in this camp piled high with corpses and stained with blood, Gazef was surprised to see a familiar young figure—the temporary guide he had found in a village outside the fortress city of Ye. Lantier when he was ordered to "drive away the Imperial knights who were harassing the border."

This terrible discovery turned Gerdov's face ashen.

"...Why are you brandishing your sword against the king's army, young man! What benefits has that monster who calls himself the Sorcerer King given you?"

First, he cleaved the short sword from the other's hand with a single strike, then stabbed the boy in the abdomen, incapacitating him with a twist. Only then did Gerdav sheathe his sword and ask the rural boy, who had fallen and was clutching his wound, in a deep voice, "...Have you forgotten that you are a subject of the kingdom?"

"...The kingdom's subjects? Bah!" The heavily injured boy spat out a mouthful of blood. "...The Sorcerer King's army was just passing through our village and did nothing to it, but the bandits flying the royal flag slaughtered more than a hundred people in our village without any reason!"

Since the king is willing to hire bandits to kill my family, why should I serve such a hateful enemy?

"...Is this your excuse for betraying the kingdom, betraying humanity, and siding with monsters?" Gazef questioned, his face grim.

"...Because some humans are more evil than monsters! At least those goblins saved me, but the king's men want to kill me!"

The village boy stared at Gazef with an expression that was a mixture of hatred and despair. "...And you are an accomplice of those evil people!"

After a long silence, Gerdov finally stood up, temporarily sparing the dying boy, and looked around the camp.

Then he saw that the makeshift camp, which had just been breached by the kingdom's army, was filled with corpses lying haphazardly and dejected prisoners. Besides the dead from the Kingdom of Riyestege's own side, there were many goblins and strange monsters, as well as a few border villagers who had defected to the enemy, but there was no sign of the foreign mercenaries who followed the "Magic King".

But that doesn't mean they don't exist. In fact, Gazef just killed a foreign magician with his sword, but...

"...What's the situation here, Captain? Are those strange foreigners still disappearing on the spot after they die?"

Marquis Raven, the strategist of the Kingdom of Ri. Yestize's expeditionary force, rode over on a tall, fine horse and asked Captain Gazef.

"...Yes, sir, all the foreign mercenaries we defeated have disappeared. Only some of the monster corpses were preserved."

Warrior Captain Gazef saluted Marquis Raven and replied, "...Although we captured and tortured a goblin soldier before, it couldn't explain the origins of its master, and was equally confused about its own origins, seemingly summoned by some kind of magic..."

"...Then, what about these people over here? Aren't they foreign mercenaries under the Sorcerer King?"

The eldest prince, Baluburo, who had come to inspect the area, pointed at the heavily wounded, dying boy and several other prisoners, and asked sternly.

"...Your Highness, they are all farmers from the villages near the fortress city of Ye. Lantier. Their villages were burned and slaughtered by bandits, or rather rebels, recruited by the kingdom before, without any reason. Driven by hatred and anger, they joined the Sorcerer King's invading army."

Soldier Captain Gazef, who was not very good with words, told everything truthfully. The other soldiers present also secretly looked at this prince, who was issuing orders indiscriminately and organizing privateers to ravage the occupied territories, with rather subtle glances, which made Balubro grit his teeth in anger.

"...What? Judging from your tone, you seem dissatisfied with my strategy, or even think these ignorant people deserve pity?"

The hot-tempered Crown Prince Balbro roared in anger, "...The border region around the fortress city of Ye. Lantier is a directly controlled territory of the royal family. Therefore, the commoners on the border have an unconditional obligation to be loyal to the kingdom! Even if the kingdom needs them to die, it's the same!"

In his anxiety and anger, as if his blood was flowing faster due to the stimulation, his tone of voice began to become disordered.

"...When they bowed down before the army that the Sorcerer King brought out of the ruins, refusing to raise their swords against the kingdom's enemies, they were no longer loyal subjects of the kingdom, but traitors! How could they have the right to live? If they were truly loyal to the kingdom, they should have fought the Sorcerer King's army before our army could move out! Even if it meant the death of the last one!"

Since they can't do it, they should at least be prepared to contribute their minds and wealth to the kingdom!

"...Your Highness, these commoners probably don't have any swords or knives in their homes," Warrior Captain Gerdev couldn't help but argue.

Seeing that the lowly warrior captain Gazef dared to talk back to him, Prince Balbro was furious and almost whipped Gazef across the face... Fortunately, he remembered that Gazef was a trusted favorite of his father, who had been promoted by special circumstances, and that he himself had always had a poor image in his father's eyes. If he were to whip the warrior captain without permission, it would only make his father dislike him even more...

Therefore, Prince Baluburo barely managed to suppress his rage, grunted, and said:

"...Even without swords, they can fight with hoes. Even without hoes, they can at least strike the enemy with stones and sticks. Even after they die in battle, they should still curse the enemy with their souls; having no weapons is no excuse for desertion!"

The nobles who followed Prince Balbro also echoed his flattery and took the opportunity to sow discord among Gazef.

"...Your Highness is truly insightful. As subjects of the kingdom, we have the obligation to dedicate everything to the kingdom!"

"...Only those who unconditionally obey the royal family and nobles, and are always ready to dedicate everything to the kingdom, are truly good citizens!"

"...Yes! Paying taxes is their duty, and so is fighting in war! Evading their duty is treason!"

"...To be honest, it's absurd to pity these sinners! Letting people who disobey the royal family live is the real scourge!"

"...It is an insult to let those who betray the kingdom live. To pardon them would only undermine the nation's authority and prestige!"

"...Even if nobles raise the banner of rebellion, they will undoubtedly be destroyed. The same applies to the common people; they must be punished even more severely!"

……

Chapter 177, War and Mobilization

Listening to his confidants praising his own insightful opinions, Prince Balbro's expression softened slightly. He stopped glaring at Captain Gazef and, after surveying the battlefield, gave an unequivocal order to execute all the prisoners: "...That's right, these traitorous commoners must be punished severely enough! Hang them all immediately! Then, hang their corpses on the trees by the roadside, showing everyone who passes by what the ultimate fate of those foolish enough to defy the royal family will be."

When faced with the cruel decision made by Prince Balbro, Warrior Captain Gazef hesitated for a moment, but considering that the conflict between the two sides was irreconcilable and that the decisive battle between the two armies was approaching, he ultimately did not offer any advice, but simply sighed inwardly.

Meanwhile, Marquis Raven seemed lost in thought as he watched these "traitorous civilians" being hanged while cursing him.

As a centrist who wavered between the aristocracy and the royalists, he had a vague idea of ​​the sinister intentions behind the aristocracy's manipulation of the eldest prince, using the royal banner to recruit thieves and mercenaries to ravage the border regions around the fortress city of Ye. Lantier.

It was nothing more than the aristocratic faction, realizing they couldn't divide this land after the war, wanting to completely ravage this important royal territory into a desolate wasteland, and incidentally, thoroughly tarnish the royal family's reputation, inciting the local people, who had inexplicably suffered a great calamity, to hate the royal family.

Thus, even if the royal family successfully recaptures the fortress city of Ye-Lantir after the war, due to public resentment, they will no longer be able to obtain financial and human resources support from it as smoothly as before—so what if this land is directly under the royal family's control? As long as the people on the border do not recognize the legitimacy of the royal family, and even resist royal rule by force, it will be useless to promulgate a thousand laws!

Before the six great gods descended, humans were nothing more than servants of the dragon kings. But how many humans are still willing to find a dragon master for themselves now?

Therefore, in the worst-case scenario, the royal family would even have to spend money continuously suppressing riots and waging a protracted and protracted campaign of pacification just to barely maintain local stability. Meanwhile, the royalist forces within the country would naturally be completely crippled and unable to recover.

Of course, as a centrist, Marquis Raven wouldn't thwart the noble faction's petty tricks—the fortress city of Ye. Lantier wasn't his territory!