The Katze Plains was more or less as Ainz remembered it, they stepped out of the Gate and found themselves atop the hill overlooking the site of the Empire’s ruination. Birds cawed and picked at corpses, uncaring of the smell of rot… or worse, drawn to it. A few skeletons rose to meander over the open ground, but by and large there was a carpet of corpses wrapped in armor lying spread out on the field.

‘Having Leinas turned was probably the right decision, I have the distinct suspicion, now that I look back on it, that she incited the attack. I should ask Foresight if they know anything. If that is the case, if Leinas really did sell them out at Arche’s urging, keeping the knight under control is the best possible outcome.’ With that thought set aside, Ainz focused on the more immediate concern, most of the bodies still had their armor, the place of massacre had become something adventurers had not found the wherewithal to raid yet.

Given time, Ainz was sure they would. But that time would not be provided to them.

“Master, forgive my ignorant question, but why are we here? Couldn’t we just easily raise a few monsters and wipe out those…” Shalltear paused and put her fingers tight over her nostrils, “foul creatures?”

At this Ainz could answer with more than a little confidence, and so he did, looking not at her, but at the sea of corpses. “Perhaps, but impressing on my new subjects a sense of ‘scale’ and that I can make enemies move how I want them to move, will be more useful and cost me nothing but a little more mana and maybe a few days. Plus this allows us to provide them with a lot of useful material to work with for quite some time.”

Shalltear accepted this answer without question and the Sorcerer King began to approach the metal carpet of abandoned bodies. Some had already been reduced to mere skeletons, their bones clearly broken in places where their fellows trampled them in a futile attempt at escape. Others bore brutal injuries around which insects still flocked and at which birds pecked. No eyeballs remained, nor tongues, the soft flesh a clear favorite of the animal life in the area.

The smell was retch-inducing even with his mask in the way, his long stride slowed and was cut to a half step at the foul smell of human waste, blood, and rotted, maggot riddled meat once belonging to living knights. ‘This is not a part of necromancy I like. If I were still undead, would I mind it as much?’ A trivial question, he didn’t linger on it and half step or not, he eventually found himself surrounded by death.

“Master, what are you going to do?” Shalltear finally asked.

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“A seventh tier, [Animate weak undead].” He explained, “It will raise the weak undead as skeletons or zombies under the caster’s control, the trick is that it works only on those in the casting radius, but look at my radius.” Ainz pointed out and waved a hand around him to point out the sea of bodies.

“I will clear out a large part of the Katze Plains for later use, deliver ample metal to the lizardmen to work with for a very long time, and wreak havoc on the frogmen before I go tend to them personally.” Ainz’ explanation was accompanied by a very satisfied smile on his face, and Shalltear clapped her hands together in happy applause.

“Brilliant, Master! Brilliant!” She exclaimed, and then stepped back to watch him work.

[Maximize radius]. He cast the first spell and a blue circle with dancing shapes and rune-like words rotated beneath his feet, then expanded to cover a large part of the massive plain. From his central position among the corpses, there were few of the knight corpses that were out of reach.

[Maximize magic]. The haunting ghost-like blue grew brighter and several circles appeared over his head and spun in sync with the circle beneath his feet.

[Animate weak undead]. A burst of brilliant starlight blue radiated out from Ainz as if he were a god birthing a universe from sheer will and spread out over the field of death. Birds took to the wing, scattering a few loose black and white feathers as they fled through the air to escape the wave of magic emanating from the sorcerer. For a moment there was nothing, no movement, the King stood there with his arms out, and the color of the wide emanating blast of magic vanished as if it had never been there at all.

Nothing moved.

Then. little by little, he heard the noise of rattling metal. The noise picked up and was joined by low groans as the dead began to move in earnest. The bodies consigned to rot, rose slowly to their feet, hunched, and still holding their weapons. The fleshless had become skeletons, while those with flesh, turned into weak zombies.

Bones broken in life were rejoined by the magic of their half resurrection into unliving beings, the sea of dead became an army of the unliving, loyal to the man who had killed them all.

Creating order among the undead was far easier than the living, and within a mere hour there were thousands of them lined up and ready in long columns three abreast.

“Shalltear, open the gate close to where we saw the bulk of Heketi’s army, but just out of sight, in the woods.” Ainz gave the order, and the gate appeared.

“Go, do not stop until you have reached the other side of the lake, then kill frogmen and nothing else.” Ainz said and pointed to the gate, and as if eager to respond to such an order, the undead howled and charged in as one mad body with the weapons they once used in life now ready again to be used in undeath.

“That should get Heketi’s attention.” Ainz remarked in passing, “Now Shalltear, open another gate, this time near another burned out lizardman village. We’re going to do this to each one of them, if that doesn’t compel them to abandon their positions to go defend their homes I don’t know what will.”

“As you wish, my Lord. As you wish.” Shalltear answered and looked up at him with mooning eyes, as the next group of undead rushed through following the next round of orders, she kept her eyes locked on him.

When she had a silence between one gate’s coming and the next unit’s going, she asked of Ainz, “My Lord, after we’ve finished, can you punish me?”