This was unexpected.

"Lady Elder, the men are in position." I received the telepathic report. I just had to take the wizard's word for it. The knights were probably hidden beneath the trees, but the stone of domination was also in my hand. As it pulsated, it seemed like the lizardmen were already in combat, yet I couldn't see anything around the village. To miss an entire reptile swarm engaged in battle? Something was not right.

"Hold your position, do not attack yet." I sent them my command. I flew way up high on my gargoyle's back. It should have been easy to observe what was going on. But it felt like I looked at the wrong place. I had to make sure. "Tell me what you see."

"Um, the village is in front of us, walled, with ditches, and a rice paddy is in the way too." The field wizard noted. Yes, that must have been the same settlement I observed. But where were my other pawns then? I couldn't open another channel to them at the same time.

"Don't you hear the sounds of battle?" They might have used some sort of illusion to hide their village from me, though it seemed unlikely. Or did they fight inside the woods? The response seemed confused too.

"It's all quiet here. We are hiding at the edge of the forest. A few guards on the walls. Awaiting your orders, my lady." The answer did not satisfy me. The lizards were fighting somewhere. Who did they encounter? And where? I couldn't authorize an attack before I found out. I saw the village and a road leading to it and decided to follow it.

I sent my gargoyle into a steep dive and soon spotted the imperial network and an encampment at the crossroads. It was a mile or two from the village, and I finally found the lizard swarm. They were indeed fighting, but I had no idea whom. Well, it didn't matter, if they were that close, the tribe had to be involved in a way.

My troops were the elite knights of the Royal Company, their armor was the thickest. Nothing could penetrate it, whether they fought from horseback or dismounted. Stern was wise to send them in before he brought me the news. They were able to get here in a single day. I ordered him to stay in Sanctuary though. I didn't want the people to get the wrong ideas while I was away. Here I only had to worry about the Goddess, this primitive tribe did not concern me.

Lambert did not pose a threat for now either, but I remembered that deep wound the cat girl inflicted on me. This is why I kept my distance. At least until the ground troops could confirm she was there, but should I send them in while the reptiles were stuck in a different place? Who was in that camp? It must have meant, the tribe's defenses were down, right? I didn't want to rush my decision.

"We should go in while we still have the element of surprise." The telepathic message suggested though. "These are knights, not assassins, I'm not sure, how long they can remain hidden in the woods."

I was willing to sacrifice a few soldiers to beat her after all. And the entire swarm of reptiles, if I had to. At least I knew that the rouge court wizard knew no useful offensive spells, he was a coward anyway.

There was only one, that could harm me. If the soldiers destroyed her, well, the worst-case scenario is that they get wiped out, and I'll try a different approach later. I needed to know, how solid their defenses were, and if she was home in the first place. The lizards technically fulfilled their purpose now. They weakened the village, and my men were roaring to do their part too. I couldn't deny them the glory.

"Attack the gate. Frontal assault." I gave the order, still diving. "I will join you soon, make sure you breach their defenses until then."

"Aye, my lady." The wizard confirmed, and the connection was severed. I quickly touched the magic crystal, curious about who the reptiles fought and how they were doing. I needed this information before fully committing to the attack.

The thoughts surrounding the crystal were mixed. They outnumbered their enemies nearly eight to one, but whoever they were, they put up a solid fight. The lizard's losses were already mounting, and I decided to aid them before concentrating on the village.

"Come on, don't bring shame to the lizardmen race. Press on, you bastards." I mumbled to myself, flying at the highest possible speed.

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The knights should have been able to take care of things on their end. My assistance shouldn’t be necessary until they breach the walls, and if they encountered the Goddess. By that time, I wanted the swarm to be ready as well. I did not plan to take her attacks directly again. Once I got closer to the battlefield, I could finally see, what was happening.

That was most certainly a military camp on the crossroads.

"Who the hell are these people?" I mumbled, asking myself. Did the tribes set up an army on their own? Or maybe the Demon Lord sent them for some reason? "Did he finally realize that I betrayed him?"

Whatever was the case, they had wagons parked in a defensive formation. Numbering roughly a hundred and fifty, they desperately fought the horde of reptiles. I say desperately, but far from hopeless. Their battle lines were solid, and they had two magicians with them too. One of them hurled fireballs at the enemy, the other set up a barrier to bolster their defenses. They seemed strong.

"Are you here too, Goddess?" I talked to myself. If the local tribes did this, it would have made sense, but I could quickly confirm the opposite once I flew close enough, recognizing two familiar faces. The witch I fought on a nearby hill, and her savior, who intervened in our duel. No sight of the Goddess anywhere. This was just perfect.

I wanted revenge on them for quite some time, and since they stood in the way of my lizardmen, I was eager to strike them down. Before I could reach them though, I got a concerning message. The telepathic channel opened again and the first thing I received through it was someone's immense pain.

"Lady Elder. They have inflicted heavy losses on us." I heard a weak thought. "Their guards have very strange and powerful bows. It can penetrate our armor, and even outrange the archers."

"What?" I had to suspend my dive and turn around once more. "How is that even possible? What are the casualties? Report."

I tried to gain some altitude again, but they didn't notice me on the ground yet. Did I focus on the wrong battle after all? Even with the direct telepathic link, I missed some vital information. The answer came too slowly.

"We lost the entire assaulting force. The enemy struck them down before they reached the other end of the rice paddies." That was a disaster. The connection also cut out for a brief moment. "We can't even get to the wounded. Their archers will fire at everything in their line of sight, and our magic is suppressed as if a huge barrier were around the village. We couldn't detect it at first, but they expected us. I suggest we retreat and regroup, my lady."

It would take me too long to get there. They seemed already beaten, and if the Goddess was indeed there to bolster their defenses, I could not hope to turn the tide without the lizardmen.

"Fine, run back into the forest." I ordered, fuming. Just what was going on? They threw my plans. The lizards fought that witch and all these warriors at the crossroads, but how could they have a force large enough to decimate my knights in just a few moments?

I needed to strike their military camp first. If my heavy armored knights were beaten so easily, I needed quantity, not quality. If they gave me an opening, the lizards could still overwhelm their defenses, and then I could deal with the biggest threats from afar. Yes, this was the only logical solution. I turned my gargoyle around once more.

"I'll take down the witches and the rest will be children's play for them." I tried to convince myself. The reptiles had a few shamans on their own too. One possessed my domination crystal, but the two witches kept them at bay so far. "I wonder how much of a fight they'll put up against me."

I was eager to fight if I didn't have to worry about the Goddess. I was confident in my abilities, but all the struggle with reanimating the zombies and the agricultural research took a toll on me. I had new, and deep wrinkles on my face. The skin on my hand looked old and thin. On the ground below, I had a lot of life force gathered in a single place.

All of them waited to be drained.

I flew at full speed, preparing to land in the middle of their encampment. I temporarily turned the outer layers of my skin metallic and cast a strong barrier around my body. I was ready to counter any spells the magicians could throw at me, but they still didn't notice me, so my first draining attack was guaranteed to go through.

By the gods, that spell was addicting. I trembled with anticipation already. I could imagine how their life force flew into my old and tortured body, felt how it would rejuvenate it, and fill me with power. This had to be my favorite spell now. I followed the threads of mana connecting every living being. The one that anchored them into this world. I just had to tap into it and open the gates.

"Here I come, give me everything," I mumbled, once my gargoyle reached the crossroads. I confidently threw myself into the air, ready to initiate the spell. That big orc noticed me too late, but what could he do? I fought him before. Sure, he was an excellent warrior, but he was no magician. From this distance, he couldn't even touch me.

By the time I landed and released my attack, even if he were to sprint across the camp, he could only reach halfway through. Then it would be too late. To make it better, he wasn't even moving.

Did he not recognize me, or know that they lost? Maybe the fear made his feet root into the ground. He took quite the beating from me and my gargoyle last time, I was surprised he was still alive.

But the witches didn't seem to notice me at all, and he wasn't moving either, at least his legs did not. He raised his hands at me though, holding a strange weapon I had never seen before.