Gabiru returned to the wetlands, bypassed the Hoghead forces, and entered the underground caverns through a hidden cave.
When he discovered his clansmen were playing hide-and-seek with the Hogheads, he was consumed by rage.
The warriors of the Lizardmen Tribe were the kings of the wetlands, yet their leader had arranged such a tactic.
The thoughts in Gabiru's heart grew even more intense.
"It seems Father really has grown old."
But he still held a sliver of hope; Gabiru felt that his father was waiting for him to return with reinforcements before launching a counterattack.
Thus, he did not rush to act but instead went to the main hall.
"Oh! Hasn't my good son returned?"
"Did things go smoothly?"
The Lizardman Chief asked with a beaming smile.
"I found a total of over 7,000 Goblin reinforcements and have already had them stand by elsewhere."
"Well done."
"However, do you intend to face the Hogheads using a defensive approach?"
"This is not the way noble Lizardmen fight."
Gabiru's natural talent was not weak; one could see clues of this from the large number of warriors in the Lizardmen Tribe who admired him greatly.
But his experience was shallow after all, and he did not understand the horror of the Pig-Headed Emperor; otherwise, he would not have asked such a question.
"An envoy arrived while you were away and proposed an alliance. Until we rendezvous with them, taking a defensive stance is the best course of action."
Gabiru shook his head and whispered, "You are old, Father."
Lizardman Leader: "???"
Immediately, a large number of soldiers swarmed into the hall, surrounding the leader.
"Gabiru!! What are you doing?"
The Personal Guard Captain by the leader's side, who was also Gabiru's younger sister, questioned him.
"Calm down, Personal Guard Captain! I won't do anything to you."
"While using the advantage of the caves to crush the Hogheads is indeed a good method..."
"...it disperses our combat power across numerous paths, making it impossible to concentrate our forces to meet the enemy."
"Afterward, I will apologize for my crude behavior, but only after I have finished subjugating the Hogheads."
The two of them, along with the tribe's ministers, were taken away by Gabiru's subordinates.
"My son, I do not permit you to act on your own!"
"Gabiru! No, Brother..."
Their pleas did not shake Gabiru's resolve.
Since a large number of soldiers in the Lizardmen Tribe also had grievances regarding the Chief's strategy...
...they responded one after another once Gabiru stood up.
A coup d'état occurred smoothly, and Gabiru took the seat of the Chief.
He took the magic weapon handed to him by a subordinate, the vortex spear, which symbolized the tribe's power.
The powerful force resonated with Gabiru, and the spear's body lit up with a golden glow.
"Look, even the vortex spear acknowledges me!"
Gabiru raised his arms and shouted.
"The wetlands are the battlefield of the proud Lizardmen! We are the kings of the wetlands, and even the Hogheads are no match for us!"
"Assemble the troops! All forces, advance!"
"Yes!!"
The Lizardmen's war had begun!
At this time, Rimuru was on the way, rushing at full speed... On the other side, Clayman received a message from Gelmud that the Hogheads had already reached the wetlands.
As long as the strongest race currently in the forest was eliminated, only the Duchy of Nazarick would remain.
The originally powerful Ogre Tribe in the forest had already joined Nazarick, while the managers of the forest, the Treant Race and the Treants...
...they were inherently immobile and few in number, making them no problem at all.
The only difficult one to deal with was Treyni, that A+ rank High-ranking Spirit.
Once the Pig-Headed Emperor devoured the Lizardmen Tribe and grew a bit more, the Treants would no longer be a concern.
The plan was proceeding perfectly.
Not only that, Laplace sent a message that the Lizardmen Tribe had been sabotaged by him and was no longer a threat.
"Hahahaha! Excellent! Truly excellent!"
The corners of Clayman's mouth curled up as he laughed maniacally, as if he could already see the dawn of victory.
"Now, I only need to dispose of Nazarick, and my puppet Demon Lord will be born."
With his mouth curled in a crazed smile, Clayman's eyes flashed with an eerie green light.
After calming his excitement, he went to a military camp.
Clayman had five servants, or rather, 'tools' would be more appropriate.
They were codenamed after the five fingers.
The 'Thumb' Nine-Headed Beast, 'Index Finger' Adalman, 'Middle Finger' Yamsa, 'Ring Finger' Mjurran, and 'Little Finger' Pironne.
The Middle Finger, Yamsa, served as the Commander-in-Chief of Clayman's army.
Logically, anyone who could hold the role of Commander-in-Chief should be similar to someone like Benimaru—usually calm, composed, strategic, and decisive.
But in reality, it was quite the opposite; Yamsa was nothing like that at all.
Relying on the Demon Lord backing him, he was arrogant, overbearing, dismissive of others, and conceited.
He could be described entirely as a villain who committed every evil imaginable.
His strength... well... let's tentatively call it A-rank. With the full set of divine equipment provided by Clayman, plus the artifact Frozen Magic Sword, he barely reached A+ level.
Clayman walked into the largest tent.
Inside was a man wearing a black mask that revealed half his face like Kakashi, with hair that was half-black and half-white.
Seeing his master arrive, Yamsa immediately bowed respectfully, "Lord."
"How are the preparations?"
Clayman asked; this operation was of great importance and could not afford failure.
"The preparations are complete."
The black-masked Yamsa replied, his tone full of confidence.
Thirty thousand elite demi-human warriors, plus over seventy thousand skeleton undead.
A total of one hundred thousand troops were ready.
Using this military force to eliminate a small country with a population of less than a million would be effortless.
In Yamsa's impression, the army of a million-person nation usually only had around ten thousand soldiers.
One hundred thousand against ten thousand—it would be as simple as eating or drinking water.
"Then set out."
"Also, if you fail, you should know the consequences."
At that moment, the temperature inside the tent suddenly plummeted.
Clayman looked at him coldly, making Yamsa tremble all over.
"Understood! I will absolutely not fail!" Yamsa guaranteed.
"Very well, I will be watching you constantly."
Clayman left.
Yamsa breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead. This oppressive atmosphere made him feel rather uncomfortable.
Thus, Yamsa led the army and began the march toward the neighboring Duchy of Nazarick.
The army of the puppet state Kistav was far more than this, but most needed to stay behind to guard, so they brought a large number of undead troops.
Those were the troops summoned by the Undead Summoner, the Index Finger Adalman.
Because of Clayman's curse restriction, Adalman could not leave the outskirts of Kistav's capital.
Therefore, he handed the command of the undead army over to Yamsa.
As for the stories of Clayman's Five Fingers—Adalman, Kumara, and Mjurran—I won't go into detail here.
Except for Clayman, they were all quite strong.
Fight! Fight!
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded 70 chapters of this story on Patreon!
If you enjoy it, come check out the latest chapters in advance.
Here's the link:
[patreon.com/Greyhounds]
Thank you so much for your support!!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"