Fall of the Re-Estize Kingdom was a war between the Sorcerer Kingdom and Re-Estize Kingdom that resulted in the dissolution of the latter. The Argland Council State and Adventurer's Guild also joined the conflict on the side of the Kingdom while the Slane Theocracy and Eight Fingers offered humanitarian aid.
Background[]
The war itself was triggered by the badly thought out actions of a single foolish nobleman from the Re-Estize Kingdom's New Faction. To increase grain prices, which were down due to mass imports from the Sorcerer Kingdom, he hatched a plan to rob the transports and sell the contents as his own. Even if a war of retribution were to break out, the nobleman and his co-conspirators calculated that the Sorcerer Kingdom only had the manpower to annex borders regions, far away from their domains. The robbery would end up being a success, as the convoy leader in charge of the transport was actually affiliated with Eight Fingers, and they thus cooperated on the nobleman's charade when he ordered them to hand over a caravan containing food shipments intended as aid support that was supposed to be deliver to the Roble Holy Kingdom.
Even though the transport robbery had occurred, the guards who had been delivering the aid shipment had recognizing the nobleman also meant that he was immediately identified once they reported the matter to their superiors, causing the Sorcerer Kingdom to quickly learn of the incident. As no sane person would rob from them, they initially believed this was a plot by a third party until Sorcerer King Ainz Ooal Gown suggested that the nobleman was simply an idiot, which was spot-on. Either way, with their plan to peacefully conquer the Kingdom now effectively ruined, the Sorcerer Kingdom decided to take advantage of the situation by using it as a justification to declare open war on the nation whilst sending a message to other countries to not antagonize them.[1] The Baharuth Empire, Dwarf Kingdom, Roble Holy Kingdom, and Dragon Kingdom all approved of the Sorcerer Kingdom's casus belli.
By the time the Re-Estize leadership received news of the attack and the Sorcerer Kingdom's declaration of war, an emergency meeting was held between the royalty and ministers. Despite the situation, King Ramposa III stubbornly refused to use the nobleman responsible as a scapegoat to defuse tensions, causing concern whether he was still capable of competent leadership. However, these worries were alleviated when the king instead offered up his own life to Sorcerer Kingdom's envoy, Prime Minister Albedo. Unfortunately, all attempts to appease the Sorcerer Kingdom fell on deaf ears and Albedo declared that their invasion would commence in one month.
Battles[]
Sorcerer Kingdom's Covert Invasion[]
While the Sorcerer Kingdom announced that their invasion would commence in a month, this was an elaborate ruse, and they invaded immediately. They marched their armies over the border and launched attacks on the Kingdom's western regions, massacring the inhabitants to prevent the Kingdom's government from learning of the invasion. Like this, they encircled the capital and cut the Kingdom off from its allies.
The only survivors of these attacks were domains belonging to the nobles that had been selectively coerced into switching sides after accepting Marquis Reaven's persuasion.[2]
Battle of E-Naeurl[]
While their invasion was an overwhelming success, the amount of violence used angered Nazarick's human symphathizers, who pleaded with Sorcerer King Ainz to halt the slaughter of innocent civilians. The monarch thus planned on losing a battle on purpose to appease them: the one for the port city of E-Naeurl. However, despite giving the city a fighting chance by only sending an army of low-ranking undead and giving them time to prepare by letting news of the invasion leak ahead of time, it initially looked like it would still end up being a massacre. Fortunately, just as all seemed lost, the city was saved by the arrival of the Adamantite-Ranked Azuth Aindra, who easily defeated the undead horde.
Despite the Sorcerer Kingdom's loss, the battle revealed the existence of a powerful new threat in the form of Azuth Aindra, and they subsequently began taking defensive measures. For the Kingdom; E-Naeurl became a humanitarian corridor through which civilians could flee the war to other countries, which the Sorcerer King hoped would keep his human sympathizers appeased.
Royal Coup[]
Following the Battle of E-Naeurl, the Kingdom's government finally learned of the invasion. While King Ramposa III insisted there could still be a peaceful resolution to this conflict, Prince Zanac believed that the Sorcerer Kingdom had made their intent clear. Thus, for the sake of the nation's survival, he overthrew his father in a quiet coup and subsequently began wartime preparations.
Black Scripture's Covert Evacuation Plan[]
Learning that the Sorcerer Kingdom had publicly declared war on Re-Estize, the Slane Theocracy immediately saw that the Kingdom was finished. Still, the Theocracy had secretly invested a lot of resources in the development of the Kingdom; thus, in hopes of at least salvaging something from their initial project, they send the Black Scripture to the doomed country to recruit powerful adventurers in exchange for evacuating them to safety.
In the end, while failing to get some key individuals, many adventurers accepted the offer and migrated to the Theocracy.
Assassination of King Zanac[]
With news that the Sorcerer Kingdom's army was approaching the capital, King Regent Zanac drafted all able-bodied men in the city into the Royal Army and moved to intercept the enemy. However, upon witnessing the Sorcerer Kingdom's overwhelming forces and the final attempt at negotiations breaking down, several nobles, desperate to survive, ambushed and killed the King Regent.
Afterward, the treacherous nobles took the deceased Zanac's head and presented it to the Sorcerer King as a symbol of surrender, hoping to be spared in exchange. However, the monarch was instead outraged by the nobles' betrayal of their king and had them tortured to death.[3]
Battle at the Re-Estize Plains[]
Disgusted by the nobles' betrayal and the assassination of Zanac, Ainz turned the conquest of the Kingdom into a large-scale massacre to completely wipe away the nation from the New World. The Royal Army are the first to feel his wrath and they are wiped out in an hour.
Eight Fingers' Evacuation Plan[]
Before the Sorcerer Kingdom's attack on the Royal Capital, Ainz had Shalltear Bloodfallen and Eight Fingers kidnap a large portion of the city's children and evacuate them from the warzone through teleportation magic in order to keep Nazarick's human symphathizers appeased. Eight Fingers themselves, and about a thousand people loyal to them, were also able to flee through this, effectively saving a decent amount of civilians.
Albedo vs Azuth Aindra[]
As the Sorcerer Kingdom commenced their siege of the Royal Capital, Sorcerer King Ainz and Prime Minister Albedo, who were watching from afar, are ambushed by Azuth Aindra. However, it failed and Albedo pursued him as he attempted to flee. In truth, the attack was only a distraction to lure away the Sorcerer King's protection so that his ally, Tsaindorcus Vaision, could assassinate him.
Ainz Ooal Gown vs Riku Aganeia[]
After Azuth successfully draws away Albedo, Tsaindorcus ambushes Ainz. However, he fails to fell the Sorcerer King and an intense battle ensues. In the end, Tsaindorcus was seemingly about to win when Albedo returned, having deduced the enemy's intend, prompting the former to retreat. Afterward, despite failing to kill Ainz, Tsaindorcus was now confident that he can defeat the monarch. Unbeknownst to the Dragon Lord, however, he was actually the one who had been lured into a trap, as Ainz had switched places with Pandora's Actor to draw out and identify potential enemies; and Tsaindorcus fell right for it.
Blue Roses Infighting[]
Despite the Kingdom being doomed, the leader of the Adamantite-Ranked Adventurer Group Blue Roses, noblewoman Lakyus Alvein Dale Aindra, intended to fight until the bitter end. However, the same could not be said for her comrades, who incapacitated and mind-controlled her to force her to flee with them.
Fall of the Royal Capital[]
With all hope for the Kingdom's survival lost following Tsaindorcus' failure to assassinate Ainz, the Sorcerer Kingdom launches a decisive and final assault on the Royal Capital. They deployed a small death squad only consisting of three Nazarick executives and a handful of their underlings, but even a single entity amongst the invaders boasts more than enough power to decimate a huge portion of the Kingdom. As a result, despite attempts by the Kingdom's last remaining elite warrior, Brain Unglaus to make a final desperate stand against Cocytus, he was effortlessly slain and the capital fell with little resistance.[4]
Raid on the Re-Estize Magician's Guild[]
While the battle in the capital waged on, one of the Sorcerer Kingdom's Sixth Floor Guardians, Aura Bella Fiora, used it as a cover to infiltrate the city and raid the Magician's Guild located there. While the famous swordmaster Vesture Kloff Di Laufen was guarding the guild, Aura easily killed him and completed her mission without any hassle.
Fall of Ro-Lente Castle[]
Unbeknownst to the Kingdom's citizens, Third Princess Renner had secretly been a Sorcerer Kingdom spy as early as the Demonic Disturbance. With the Royal Palace being besieged and falling soon after, she finally reveals her treason by assassinating her father, King Ramposa III, as a final show of fealty to Sorcerer King Ainz, after which she is welcomed into Nazarick as an honorary member.
Duel at Ro-Lente Castle[]
With no-one else left, Princess Renner's bodyguard, Climb, personally faces off against Sorcerer King Ainz Ooal Gown. Unbeknownst to him, however, his "heroic last stand" was merely a charade created to allow his mistress to maintain her good standing to him post-defection and he is killed and later revived in his mistress' care without hassle.
Massacre at Domain Montserrat[]
After taking the Royal Capital, the Sorcerer Kingdom's forces spread out to take the remainder of the country. Due to the Sorcerer King resolving to annihilate the Kingdom following the nobles' betrayal of their King Regent, the result is a nationwide massacre as the Kingdom's remaining population is wiped out.
One particularly noteworthy massacre was the one at Domain Montserrat, the territory of Philip Dayton L'Eyre Montserrat, the very man whose actions directly led to the Sorcerer Kingdom's invasion. To avenge herself upon the man who ruined her initial plan, the Sorcerer Kingdom's prime minister, Albedo, personally led her nation's forces. She proceeded to kill all of the domain's inhabitants before torturing Philip to death after presenting him with the heads of his accomplices, effectively erasing her previous involvement with the foolish nobleman.[5]
Aftermath[]
The Kingdom was left in ruins with only a small handful of survivors who either by escaped or submitted to the Sorcerer Kingdom's rule. Because Ainz vowed to wipe out the Kingdom following the nobles' betrayal of King Regent Zanac, the Sorcerer Kingdom actively erased all of the nation's landmarks as if it never existed. The only monument left was Ro-Lente Castle to serve as a warning against antagonizing the Sorcerer Kingdom, while the rest of the capital was turned to rubble by Mare and then burned away by Guren. Ironically, the New Faction ended up being correct in their assumption: the Sorcerer Kingdom lacked the manpower to conquer the Kingdom, so they destroyed the nation instead.
The Kingdom's downfall also caused the Sorcerer Kingdom's neighbors to believe that they would become targets of conquest in time as well, prompting them to begin preparing for war. In particular, the Slane Theocracy, now reinforced by the Adventurers recruited by the Black Scripture, began to accelerate their war with the Elf Country, aiming to swiftly end the conflict so they might redirect their forces. Similarly, Tsaindorcus Vaision returned to the Argland Council State with Azuth Aindra to plan another assassination attempt on the Sorcerer King, having a false estimate of the monarch's strength due to the latter's ruse.
On the Sorcerer Kingdom's side, the result of the war allowed them to annex a huge amount of new territory. They also effectively solved the Kingdom's issues: the nation was simply too vast for its own good, so by culling the population to a more manageable number they avoided inheriting their mistakes. In addition, Nazarick's ranks were strengthened with the recruitment of Former Princess Renner, who was transformed into a demon and then manipulated Climb to do the same after his resurrection. The Sorcerer Kingdom also looted many useful items during their onslaught, including Razor Edge along with the Kingdom's national treasure equipments and re-acquiring the Armageddon Evil Prototype.
On the other hand, the Sorcerer Kingdom also gained the extra benefits of being able to successfully train the Floor Guardians of the Great Tomb of Nazarick in war, strategy, conquest, and preparing massive/large scale invasions they can use as references for future wars and battles for the Sorcerer Kingdom. As seen when several of the Floor Guardians successfully conducted several experiments via trial and error to create various unique invasion strategies using their current resources. As seen where Shalltear Bloodfallen, who had successfully created a highly effective invasion strategy that takes full advantage of her transport network of using their conquered Frost Dragons to air carry their Elder Lichs and Soul Eaters to bombard and annihilate entire cities and towns. Meanwhile, Mare Bello Fiore successfully gained experience on how to destroy large scale cities, residential areas, and places of dwelling using his magic cleanly and effectively to massacre all of its inhabitants en masse. And both Demiurge and Albedo successfully obtained further political, espionage, and wide-scale information manipulation experience for future operations. As for Cocytus, he obtained first hand experience on how to launch and lead a large-scale invasion force.
Additionally, the Sorcerer Kingdom had also obtained its first credible information on the Natural Magics present in the New World thanks to the interloper Riku Aganeia's assassination attempt on their Monarch, who made excessive use of Wild Magic during his duel against "Ainz Ooal Gown" and additionally the higher ops of the Sorcerer Kingdom also obtained information on the Adamantite Adventurer of Red Drop, Azuth Aindra due to his battle against Albedo and him making excessive use of his Armor of Reinforcement. In addition to obtaining solid information on Wild Magic, the Sorcerer Kingdom had also successfully given the interlopers a false estimate of the "Sorcerer King's" power level and overall abilities that effectively rendered them overconfident as a future advantage in Riku's future assassination attempts.
However, not all the consequences of annexing the former Kingdom were positive for the Sorcerer Kingdom, particularly for Ainz. The Sorcerer King was already having difficulties governing his nation back when it was just a city-state. Now, with them having just annexed a huge amount of territory, the monarch dreaded the increased workload it would bring. In addition, he also feared that Renner, whose intellect rivaled Albedo and Demiurge yet possessed no ingrained loyal to him, might end up exposing him as a fraud. He thus hatched a plan to fake going missing to go on a vacation to the Elf Country with Aura and Mare.
Trivia[]
- Despite opportunities to escape, the overwhelming majority of Re-Estize Kingdom's citizens chose to remain in the doomed country since they possessed neither resources, connections nor skills to help them survive in the foreign lands.[3]
References[]
- ↑ Overlord Volume 14 Chapter 1: An Unexpected Move
- ↑ Overlord Volume 14 Chapter 2: The Beginning of the End
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Overlord Volume 14 Chapter 3: The Last King
- ↑ Overlord Volume 14 Chapter 4: Well-Prepared Traps
- ↑ Overlord Volume 14 Epilogue