Zern Prince Rescue Mission

Zern Prince Rescue Mission was a covert operation undertaken by the Holy Kingdom Liberation Army during Jaldabaoth's siege on their nation to rescue the prince of the Zern race to secure an alliance.

Background
Shortly after the Holy Kingdom Liberation Army was reeling over the loss of the apparent death of Ainz Ooal Gown, an envoy from the Zern race arrived before the leadership with a proposal that would benefit both parties.

Though it was a bit unexpected that a part of the Demi-Human Alliance would consider rebelling, the envoy related to Prince Caspond and the other leaders of the Liberation Army of the circumstances of conscription with the Demon Emperor's forces. The Zerns had been forced to follow Jaldabaoth as the demon used his power and intimidation to cow the Zern into servitude. To ensure their submission the royals of the tribe were taken as hostages. Since the royals were the two of the only male Zern and were necessary to continue the species, the Zerns had no choice but to follow Jaldabaoth. The Zerns went along with the invasion of the Roble Holy Kingdom, however, the demi-humans have recently learned that the king of the Zerns who was held hostage in the Abelion Hills, was executed by demons leaving the young prince next in line and the sole male. The Zerns' very existence hanging in the balance, they decided it was time to ally with the human resistance for mutual goals. The demi-humans understood that the Liberation Army intended to reclaim the fortress city of Kalinsha to serve as the resistance's new base of operation. As it happened their prince was held captive in the city and the Zerns pledged 3,000 of their warriors to fight alongside the humans to retake the city if the prince was returned to them. Once the battle for the city was over the Zerns promised to have their forces abandon the war against the humans and flee with their prince.

Prince Caspond understanding that this would decrease the number of demi-humans the Liberation Army would have to fight and provided them with assurances that the demi-humans would not betray them, without potentially alerting the Demon Emperor and possibly eliminating the Zern prince, agreed to the proposal. The plan was to have a rescue mission be conducted during the chaos of the battle at Kalinsha. Under the cover of the battle, said rescue team would liberate the Zern prince held captive in one of the innermost castle towers of the city guarded by a Vah Un. The Zerns were forbidden from approaching the tower by the Demon Emperor and thus the demi-humans would leave the rescuing of the prince to the humans.

But if the humans could not rescue the prince when the real fighting in the city began, the Zerns warned they would have no choice but to kill their human allies. If they did succeed however in rescuing the prince, the Zerns would would stage a revolt in Kalinsha and switch sides and fight alongside the humans. Caspond charged Neia Baraja to undertake the mission to secure the prince.

And while the task was dauntingly impossible to the squire, the Zern envoy though managed to convince Neia to accept the mission as the she offered to provide Neia with knowledge on the Abelion Hills and guides to further her search for Ainz Ooal Gown. For who else would be going on the mission, Caspond responded that CZ2128 Delta would accompany her.

Though currently a prisoner of the Liberation Army, as CZ was one of the Demon Maids under the command of the Demon Emperor, the maid claimed that she was under the command of Ainz has in the battle against Jaldabaoth, the Sorcerer King was able break the demonic influence over her and switch her allegiance to him. The maid was regarded as untrustworthy by Neia as she was suspicious though soften when she learned the Sorcerer had commanded CZ to remain behind to assist the resistance.

The leaders among the resistance were unsure of CZ's loyalties, a few like Remedios Custodio even suggesting that they kill her, but Caspond believed they still could make use of the maid to rescue of the prince. If she betrayed them, then only the Zern will be eliminated, which will reduce the number of demi-humans either if the resistance fails or succeeds to live up to their agreement. And also help root out any moles on their side.

Battle
Neia and CZ entered Kalinsha by hiding in barrels filled with fresh meat and were smuggled into the city by the Zerns. The infiltrators arrived in the food storage area of the castle in Kalinsha. CZ taking a bottle of perfume with the magic of [Odorless] sprinkled some on both of them to cover their smell. Navigating through the dark passages of the castle, Neia and CZ avoid being detected by the demi-human guards to reach the towers where the prince was held captive.

The first obstacle in their way was a long passageway they had to cross without being seen. Hence the pair needed to take out the sentries took the level above the passage from where the guards were stationed to a room where CZ tied a rope to a shelf that was fixed securely to a wall with Spidan silk by their Zern allies beforehand. The women the used the rope climb to the level below them and be in position to shoot the guards at range. Once the two silently retrieved the bodies and hidden them in a spare room and washed away all evidence of their kills with wine, they headed to the next obstacle which was the aerial walkway. It was a open air path from the castle to the tower. To take care of the guards keeping watch, CZ went ahead first using her inhuman speed to kill the ones at the guard post.

They entered into the tower where they encountered a Vah Un guard forcing the pair to shoot it with bullets and arrows. To their surprise the demi-human survived the attacks, causing them to rush it before the guard could call for reinforcements. The demi-human more prepared then used its abilities to transform into mist to avoid their range attacks and began to launch its own brutal attacks on the infiltrators with its mace. The pair were severely disadvantaged as they were not so good at melee combat. Neia then tried another tactic by targeting the limbs hoping that she could at least disrupt its blows, but it proved useless as the limb of the Vah Un did indeed turn to mist but still was able to retain hold of its weapon. Amused by the attack, the Vah Un used [Water Splash] on the squire knocking her to the ground. CZ though realized that the Vah Un's ability to turn into mist was limited to only seven ranged attacks at a time. Seeing that its secret was out, the Vah Un used [Fog Cloud] to hide, but since it was in the middle of the passageway, CZ was able to pinpoint its location and fire her weapon at it. Neia following suit aimed in the direction of her partner with her bow. Somehow the demi-human managed to get behind Neia, who was warned by CZ, dropped down to allow the maid to finish their opponent by riddling its body with bullets.

Since their big battle with the Vah Un, the two abandoned their covert attack and hurried to get to their target's chamber where they found the prince, Beebeezee. Surprised at finding intruders in his room, the Zern was informed by the two that they had been sent by one of his retainers, Beebeebee, to rescue him.

At first Beebeezee was hesitant to escape as doing so would incur the wrath of Jaldabaoth and risk his father's life, he was hit by the revelation that the king was already dead. His life endangered now, the prince permitted the two to get him out of his prison, though asked to make it look like he was carried against his will. Neia, CZ and Beebeezee made it back to the castle larder where they ere met by five Zerns waiting to receive them. The prince was glad to see his subjects but questioned the risk of defying the Demon Emperor. He was forced to admit that the Zerns had no place in Jaldabaoth's world after they told him of the horrible treatment and abuse his people suffered at the demon's hand. However he demanded a more practical plan when they told him that they planned to flee back to hive in the Abelion Hills as hiding and fleeing would not solve their current problem and neither would building a resistance.

When all proposals were exhausted Neia suggested that the Zerns flee to the Sorcerer Kingdom. There the demi-humans would be safe from the wrath of the Demon Emperor as that nation was protected by a hero who defeated the demon. Especially if the Zerns offered information pertaining to the Sorcerer King's whereabouts, she was sure that the demi-humans would be accepted as refugees.

The demi-humans were intrigued by the proposal until they learned that the Kingdom was ruled by an undead. The notion that the Sorcerer Kingdom was an evil place ruled by a tyrant was furiously rejected by Neia who defended her liege. Seeing her devotion, the Zerns reconsidered the offer before finally agreeing to it. Later it was warned by one of the Zerns that one of Jaldabaoth's most trusted demons were coming to the castle. Thinking this was a rare opportunity to assassinate the leadership of the Demi-Human Alliance CZ stated that the group needed to kill the demon, a plan which many believed to be insane by the Zern warriors.

The idea was advocated by Beebeezee who had faith in his rescuers given that they had managed to defeat the Vah Un guard. Neia was shocked that the prince also intended to fight alongside them. She tried to convince the royal to seek safety but the prince argued he could help given his ability to cast 4th tier spells. The

prince and his five retainers were permitted to accompany CZ and Neia. CZ warned the party that their opponent may be a Silk Hat Demon and gave them an overview of what they were facing. From what CZ gathered the demon used the heads of its victims and gained their magical abilities. Additionally it was learned that the two heads that the demon possessed were of Grand Mother of the Pandex and a dark hair human.

The group then headed out, with the Zerns hiding CZ, Neia and Beebeezee withing barrels to avoid the security to the demon's suite. The party entering the demon's quarters found it to be a Circlet Demon. The Zern prince launches the first attack but his spell is countered by the demon using Grand Mother’s abilities.

The Circlet Demon seeing that the Zern were committing treason offered the demi-humans a chance to repent if they betray their human allies but was sorely rejected. Having nothing more to say to traitors the demon summoned several Shadow Demons to his side. It attempted to appeal to Neia and try to convince her to betray the Zerns with offers of freeing ten people from the camps.

Initially feigning interest, Neia created a distraction for CZ to aim her weapon and shoot at the demon and grapple with her dagger. Neia, CZ and Beebeezee focused on on Circlet Demon while the Zerns occupied the Shadow Demons. Bebeezee used casted attacks spells to overpower the demon, while CZ acted at the front-liner and Neia was the rear guard.

CZ suffered minor damage from her scuffle with the demon. This prompted Neia to use an item to heal her companion. The demon seeing that Neia was distracted targeted her. It casted [Shockwave] causing her immense pain. Beebeezee seeing Neia in pain offered to call back the Zerns to help. CZ though promised to protect Neia standing in front of the human before the demon. An exchange took place between CZ and the demon. CZ warned the demon that Neia had in her possession an item given to her by the Sorcerer King. The name of the Sorcerer King invoked fear in the demon and after seeing the bow proclaimed that it was the product of the lost runecraft art. Neia was uninterested in what the demon had to say. Her opponent then used a spell to blind her. Though blind Neia was still able to restring her bow and land a hit on the demon. Urged by the Zern prince to continue firing, the squire complied, and CZ supported her attacks by confronting the demon.

Eventually the battle saw to the victory of Neia’s group. There were a few Zern casualties, but overall were fine. The Zern prince out of respect for Grand Mother, then ordered his servants to begin consuming the remains of the demi-human queen. Neia still blind by the spell rested as her companions hurried to join the Liberation Army's attack on Kalinsha.

Aftermath
The combination of the Zerns uprising and the absence of the elimination of the high-ranking demon commander resulted in the liberation of Kalinsha. Casualties on the Liberation Army were surprisingly light despite retaking the city which was attributed to Neia Baraja. After the liberation of the city, the squire of the Sorcerer King canvassed support in her search for Ainz Ooal Gown. She approached many freed captives offering the benefits of seeking the Sorcerer King and moving their hearts. Those who listened and chose to follow her were those desperate for someone to idolize to ease the trauma they experienced. Due to Neia’s eloquent words and attracting the masses, she became known as the “Faceless Evangelist” and gathered great support to form the Sorcerer King's Rescue Team.

The Zerns having fulfilled their part of the bargain with the Liberation Army had retreated with their prince to the Sorcerer Kingdom. A few though returned to the Abelion Hills to gather information on the current whereabouts of the missing Sorcerer King.

The human head that was retrieved from the Circlet Demon was revealed to belong to Kelart, causing any hopes of Remedios in resurrecting the Holy Queen to be dashed away. Emotionally shaken by her sister’s demise, The captain relegated her duties to her second in command.

News of the liberation of Kalinsha would make its way to the Southern Noble Alliance. Eventually the nobles marched a 50,000 strong army to aid the Liberation Army and also to show their support to Caspond who was now next in line to the throne.