Overlord

"Still, if this keeps up, it'll only be a stalemate," Ainz grumbled as he saw the huge throng of undead that still remained.

If he wanted to break the encirclement, he could easily cut a path through the undead horde. However, if he forced his way through, the undead would scatter in all directions and the nearby guards might end up being injured or killed. If that happened, he would lose the witnesses to his deeds, and thus fail the objective of being "the adventurer who cleared up this matter." Therefore, he had to lure the undead to him as he moved forward, in order to ensure the safety of the guards. However, doing so made his forward progress very slow.

And then, Narberal responded in earnest to Ainz's words:

"Should we summon reinforcements from Nazarick? A couple dozen people could annihilate everything in this graveyard that dares stand against you, Ainz-sama."

"…Don't be silly. How many times have I told you our objective for coming to this city?"

"But, Ainz-sama, if we wanted to win fame, would it not be better to let the undead surge into the city and cause more casualties first before stepping in?"

"I have considered that possibility as well. If we knew our enemy's aim, this city's fighting power and so on, we might be able to do that. But since we lack information, we need to avoid losing this chance. It would also be very annoying to have to dance to the opposition's tune. In addition, from what I can see, other teams might snatch away our glory first."

"I see… Ainz-sama, you are truly incredible. To think your plan was so immaculately conceived; I expected nothing less of our Supreme Ruler. I bow before your superior wisdom once more. Speaking of which… your foolish vassal would like to be enlightened on one point. Would it not be better to send the Eight Edge Assassins, Shadow Demons, and other vassals adept at hiding themselves to observe the situation before a great shift in the circ.u.mstances occurs, and then seize the moment when it comes?"

Ainz silently looked at Narberal, who was floating in the air.

The night wind blew softly. Any undead who sought to exploit this perceived weakness would instead be destroyed in one hit by a swing of Ainz's greatswords.

"…If, if I taught you everything, how would you learn? Figure it out yourself."

"Yes! My deepest apologies."

Ainz had been somewhat shaken by this. He forcefully jerked his head back to double check the distance between himself and the doors to the graveyard, and to see if the guards could still see him from there.

"However! That said, time is still getting quite tight. It can't be helped — I guess I'll have to carve a path through them."

Ainz unleashed his power.

After using his skill, two undead creatures appeared.

One of them was dressed in a trenchcoat and wore a mask which showed a smiling face. Its fingers ended in large, sharp surgical scalpels.

The other was a massive, brawny creature, but its body was covered in pustules and the bandages which wrapped its entire body were stained yellow. There were many metal hooks all over its body, linked by metal chains to just as many m.o.a.ning skulls.

"Kill them."

The two undead obeyed Ainz's orders and laid into the surrounding undead horde. Though there were only two of them, they were stronger by far.

As Jack the Ripper severed limbs with each swipe of its scalpel hands and the Corpse Collector wrenched off the heads of the undead with its chains, Ainz continued using his skills.

"Then, let's take care of things on this side too."

Those skills were 「Create Low Tier Undead: Wraith」 and 「Create Low Tier Undead: Bone Vulture」. After summoning several of them, he ordered:

"Chase away any intruders that enter the graveyard. Killing adventurers is fine, but do not kill the guards."

The Wraiths' bodies shimmered and vanished, and the Bone Vultures spread their wings and flew up. Now that his work was done, Ainz smiled to himself.

The low tier undead were there just in case some adventurers used flight magic to reach the enemy's location and steal the credit for his hard work.

"Then, let's go."

As the two summoned undead made a brutal display of their skills, Ainz charged into the greatly thinned ranks of the undead horde.

♦ ♦ ♦

Only Narberal remained with Ainz by the time they reached the chapel at the heart of the graveyard. Several suspicious-looking fellows were standing in a circle in front of the chapel, apparently conducting some kind of ritual.

They all wore crude black robes which covered their entire bodies, and which varied in both texture and color. Their black head cloths hid their faces and only showed their eyes, while the wooden staves they carried had strange carvings on their ends.

They were short, and by the way they carried themselves, they were probably all men.

The only exposed face belonged to the man in the middle, and he looked like he was undead. He was well-dressed, and seemed to be concentrating on the black stone that he held in his hand.

The wind carried whispered words to Ainz's ears. The voices in the air rose and fell in unison, and it sounded like some sort of chanting. However, it did not sound like a requiem to the dead, but more like some sort of dark ritual which blasphemed against the deceased.

"Should we ambush them?" Narberal asked. However, Ainz shook his head.

"It wouldn't help. Besides, it seems they've already spotted us."

Ainz had no concealment-related skills, so he simply strode directly over to them. Although he could have avoided the lights of the graveyard, all the opposition would need to do was use 「Darkvision」 in order to see as though it were broad daylight. In addition, Ainz had personal experience of the fact that summoned monsters and their summoners were linked by a mental bond. Since he had defeated so many undead on the way here, they must have known that Ainz was approaching them through their bond.

In fact, there were already several people looking at Ainz and Narberal.

Given that they had not launched an attack yet, they might have something to say. Having come to that conclusion, Ainz decided to approach them head-on.

As Ainz and Narberal walked below the magical lights, the suspicious group of people took a stance, and one of them said to the man in the center, "Khazit-sama, they're here."

All right, idiot confirmed… no, he might have been faking it. First, let's listen to what they have to say.

"Ah… what a lovely night. Don't you think it's wasted on a boring old ritual?"

"Hmph… I'll decide whether the time is right for a ritual. Come to think of it, who are you, anyway? How did you break through that horde of undead?"

The man standing in the center of the circle — his name was Khazit, unless that was an alias, and he was probably the highest ranked of all the people present — asked Ainz that question on behalf of the others.

"I'm an adventurer on an assignment, looking for a missing young man… I trust you know who I'm talking about, even if I don't state his name?"

The other members of the group took a stance, which confirmed in Ainz's heart that they were not innocents who had been dragged into the matter.

Under his helmet, Ainz smiled bitterly at Khazit, who was looking around the surroundings.

"Just the two of you? Where's the rest of your party?"

Oi oi, what kind of question is that? Or maybe he's trying to see if there's anyone lying in ambush… still, he should have thought a little before opening his mouth. Based on that, I can be sure he's just a pawn.

Ainz tiredly shrugged as he replied:

"Yup, just the two of us. We flew over here with a flight spell."

"You're lying, that's impossible."

Ainz sensed that there was some kind of meaning behind that curt retort. Thus he asked:

"You don't have to believe it, but let's get back to the main topic. If you let the boy return home safely, I can spare your life. How about it, Khazit?"

"—And you are?"

"Before that, there's something I'd like to ask. Is there anyone over there besides you lot?"

Khazit looked coldly at Ainz:

"We're the only ones—"

"—Surely it's not just you? There should be someone with a piercing weapon among you… planning to ambush us? Or are you hiding because you're afraid?"

"Fufu~ You checked their bodies~ Not bad~"

Suddenly, a female voice rang out from the chapel.

A young woman slowly emerged into the light, and every step she took was accompanied by the clattering of metal against metal.

"You…"

"Ahhh~ they found me out, so there's no point hiding. Speaking of which~ I only hid because I can't use the 「Conceal Life」 spell~"

The woman grinned, in response to the somewhat angered Khazit.

That reply aside, they still haven't trotted out Nfirea as a hostage. Perhaps Nfirea's already dead…

Just as Ainz was thinking along those lines, the woman asked:

"May I know your name? Ah, I'm Clementine. Pleased to meetcha~"

"…Well, it's kind of pointless to answer your question, but I guess I'll tell you anyway. My name is Momon."

"I've never heard that name before… how about you?"

"I haven't heard of it myself — and I've gathered information on all the high ranked adventurers in the city, so how is it I've never heard of a Momon among them? Still, how did you know it was here? The dying message pointed to the sewers—"

"The answer is under your cloak. Show me."

"Uwah~ Pervert~ L.e.w.d~"

As she said that, the girl's — Clementine's — face twisted. She had a grin so wide it nearly reached her ears.

"Ju~st kidding~ you mean these?"

Clementine threw open her coat, revealing what looked like scale mail whose individual plates had mismatched components. However, Ainz's excellent vision saw the truth immediately. Those were not the metal plates which made up scale mail.

They were countless adventurer plates. Platinum, gold, silver, iron, copper, even mithril and orichalc.u.m. All these were the proof of all the adventurers Clementine had been killing, the trophies taken from her hunts. Innumerable vengeful groans seemed to haunt the metal plates' clinking.

"It was these prizes of yours which led me to you."

A look of confusion came over Clementine, and Ainz did not intend to explain himself.

"…Nabe. Deal with Khazit and the other men. I'll take care of this woman."

With that, he quietly warned Nabe to watch out above.

"Understood."

Khazit's expression was somewhere between a sneer and a grin. The cold-eyed Narberal, on the other hand, showed nothing on her face.

"…Clementine, let's kill each other over there."

Ainz immediately set out without waiting for Clementine to respond. He was very confident that she would not reject the challenge, and the sound of her lazy footsteps behind him was ample proof of that.

Once they had gotten some distance away, a thunderous, eye-wateringly bright discharge of lightning erupted between Narberal and Khazit. As though on cue, Ainz and Clementine turned to look at each other.

"Could it be those people I killed in that store were your friends? Are you mad because I killed your buddies~?"

Clementine continued in a mocking tone:

"Ufufufu, that magic caster was soooo funny. Until the end he believed that someone would save him~ but how could he hold out that long against my attacks with just that little bit of health… Or could it be he was hoping you would save him? Sor~ry, I killed him."

Clementine was all smiles. Ainz looked at her, and shook his head.

"…No, there's no need to apologize."

"Really? Well that's a shame~ It's fun to piss off those people who get all emotional when their friends come up. Oi, why aren't you getting mad? You're no fun! Or could it be they weren't your friends?"

"…Well, under the right circ.u.mstances, I might have done the same thing as you. So blaming you for it would be hypocritical."

Ainz slowly raised his greatswords:

"…Still, they were tools for building my reputation. Once they returned to the inn, they would have spread word of my deeds to the other adventurers. They would have told everyone about how the two of us were heroes who drove off the Wise King of the Forest by ourselves. And now you've gotten in the way of my plans. That greatly displeases me."

Clementine seemed to have sensed something in Ainz's tone, and she laughed uncontrollably:

"Really now~ oh woe is me, to have made you mad~ oh yes, it was a poor decision to fight me~ That pretty girl's a magic caster, right? Then she won't be able to beat Khazi-chan~ though if you two swapped out, maybe you could have won. Though that girl couldn't beat me either~"

"Nabe alone would be more than enough for you."

"Don't be silly~ how could a measly little magic caster beat me? It'll be over in two or three blows~ It's always been like that~"

"I see, so you're that confident in your abilities as a warrior…"

"Yup, it goes without saying. No warrior in this country can beat me~ no, wait, almost no warrior in this country can beat me~"

"Is that so… well, that gave me an idea. I shall give you a handicap, and have my revenge on you at the same time."

Clementine's eyes narrowed, and for the first time she had a look of annoyance on her face.

"According to the info from those chaps in the Windflower, there's only five people in this country who can give me a good fight. Gazef Stronoff. Gagaran of Blue Rose. Luisenburg Albelion of Red Drop. Brain Unglaus. Also, the retired Vestia Croft Di Lofan… though none of them could beat me even if they went all-out. Not even if I was without the magic items from my country."

Clementine smiled to Ainz. That smile was a disgusting one.

"I don't know what sort of ugly face is under that helmet of yours, but there's no way that I, Clementine-sama — one who's left humanity behind and stepped into the realm of heroes — could possibly lose!"

In contrast to the agitated Clementine, Ainz's reply was calm and composed.

"Because of that, I will give you a handicap. Under no circ.u.mstance will I use my full strength on you."

Part 4

"「Twin Maximize Magic – Electrosphere」."

Two balls of lightning, each nearly twice the normal size, appeared in Narberal's open palms and shot forth—

—And then they struck.

The electrospheres — their destructive power greatly augmented — expanded rapidly. The electrical pulse that spread from them was huge and lit the graveyard as if it was in broad daylight. The magical lightning vanished as quickly as it had appeared, taking its power with it.

All of Khazit's minions were on the ground.

Only one person remained standing.

"Really… why didn't you fall like those other inferior lifeforms (caterpillars)… Could it be that you cast the 「Energy Immunity – Electricity」 spell?" Narberal asked as she noticed the faint burn marks on Khazit's face.

If those were there, then he should have cast 「Protection Energy – Electricity」, a lower-tiered defensive spell than 「Energy Immunity – Electricity」.

Narberal felt it was a shame that she could not exterminate all the pests in one go, and then she consoled herself with the thought that all this was still within acceptable parameters. After all, it would have been boring to have finished everything off with just one spell.

"You aren't just a regular idiot, but an idiot who can cast third tier spells, aren't you!?"

"…An idiot? An inferior lifeform (mite) like yourself dares call me an idiot!?"

Narberal wrinkled her eyebrows.

"Anyone who makes a mess of my plans is an idiot. Especially an idiot who doesn't know the meaning of strength and came here to find their death! My preparations are finally complete! Now behold the supreme power of the Orb of Death that has drunk its fill of negative energy!"

Khazit raised the orb in his hand.

It was a fairly rough-looking gem that gleamed like a lump of blackened steel. It had not been polished and it looked more like a lump of ore than anything which had been manufactured. Narberal sensed something like a heartbeat coming from the Orb.

Suddenly, the six disciples of Khazit who had been electrocuted by the 「Electrosphere」 climbed to their feet, but those were not the motions of a living, thinking creature. The six disciples were now under necromantic control, and shakily drew themselves up between Narberal and Khazit. Narberal watched the scene before her with doubt and puzzlement in her eyes.

"These zombies are my opponents?"

"Fuhahahaha, that's right. But they'll be enough for you! Attack!"

Zombies, being the least among the undead, could not use magic, and as the half-dozen former disciples lunged at her with claws outstretched, Narberal cast a spell on them.

"「Electrosphere」."

Once more a white globe shot forth. Where it struck, it generated a pulse of electricity which consumed all the disciples within its radius. The lightning vanished after a moment, and the disciples collapsed to the ground once more. Although she had easily dispatched her enemy, there was no joy on Narberal's face.

「Create Undead」 could not produce multiple undead at once. This must have been the result of Khazit using some sort of support skill.

Narberal turned her gaze to the black sphere in Khazit's hand. It would seem the power of that item extended to letting him control multiple Zombies at once.

Still, this man had some nerve calling an effect like that "supreme power." To Narberal, the rulers of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, the Forty One Supreme Beings who had created her and all her comrades, were the only entities who deserved to be described as "supreme."

Just as unhappiness filled Narberal, Khazit exclaimed in delight.

"That's enough! You've taken in more than enough negative energy!"

The black sphere in Khazit's hand drew the graveyard's darkness into itself, and it seemed to be glowing faintly. The slow heartbeat she felt from earlier seemed stronger than before.

It would seem that ignoring it would be problematic in the future.

Having come to that conclusion, Narberal was about to make a move when she heard something. It was the sound of something whistling through the air. Narberal recalled her master's warning and flung herself to the side.

A massive creature rushed past Narberal's body, and after hovering behind Khazit, it landed on the ground.

It was a composite entity that stood three meters tall, made of countless human bones. It was designed to resemble a being with a very long neck, wings, and four legs — a Dragon. Its tail, also made from innumerable bones, lightly thumped the ground.

This was the monster known as a Skeletal Dragon.

Narberal did not consider monsters of its level strong, but the Skeletal Dragon had a trait which was very dangerous to Nabe.

For the first time, a look of surprise appeared on Narberal's face, which then stiffened up.

"Fuhahahaha!"

Khazit's mad laughter echoed through the surroundings.

"Skeletal Dragons and their absolute immunity to magic are a magic caster's worst nightmare, aren't they!?"

If Nabe could not hurt the Skeletal Dragon with magic, then—

Her master had ordered her to carry a sword with her in case of emergencies. She now removed it from her belt — along with its sheath — and then secured her sword so it would not easily slip out of the sheath.

"—I'll beat you to death."

Narberal strode forth.

The Skeletal Dragon swiped its forepaw in response, but Narberal nimbly evaded its attack. The wind of its passing tossed up Narberal's hair as she rushed in at the Skeletal Dragon's c.h.e.s.t.

Then, she concentrated all her strength and swung with all her force.

Her blow sent the three meter tall Skeletal Dragon flying.

Shortly afterwards, it hit the ground with an earth-shaking crash.

"What!?"

Khazit's jaw dropped as he stared.

Skeletal Dragons were made of many smaller bones, and they certainly looked light. However, they only appeared light. Magic casters, who spent their days pursuing greater magic power, should not have had enough strength to pull off a move like that.

Khazit hurriedly fled behind the Skeletal Dragon's vast body, and then he shouted:

"—You, who are you? A mithril… no, an orichalc.u.m ranked adventurer!? There shouldn't be anyone like that in this city; did you pursue Clementine or myself to this place!?"

Khazit grit his teeth in agitation.

"Well, panicking like this does suit an inferior lifeform (click beetle) like yourself."

"You, you!"

Crafting this Skeletal Dragon had required two months of elaborate rituals and an immense quantity of negative energy. How could it be beaten so easily? He had worked and planned many years for this.

Just as Khazit was turning red with rage, the Skeletal Dragon creaked as it slowly got up. There was a massive fissure in the bones which formed its c.h.e.s.t, which spilled bone fragments as it moved. It could not take another hit like this.

"No! I won't! I won't let you! 「Ray of Negative Energy」!"

A beam of black light shone extended from Khazit's hand and touched the Skeletal Dragon, quickly healing its injuries with negative energy.

"So it's immune to magic, but it can be healed with magic."

Khazit ignored Narberal's mockery and continued casting spells.

"「Reinforce Armor」, 「Lesser Strength」, 「Undead Flame」, 「Shield Wall」."

He cast buff after buff on the Skeletal Dragon.

Now the Skeletal Dragon's bony body was sturdier, stronger, and wreathed in life-draining black fire. It even had an invisible barrier in front of it which acted like a shield.

"Well, if you're doing that, I'll play along."

"「Reinforce Armor」, 「Shield Wall」, 「Protection Energy – Negative」."

Narberal layered defensive spells on herself as well.

Once both sides had finished buffing themselves, it was as if a bell had gone off and the two of them went at it again.

♦ ♦ ♦

Narberal swung her sword.

She landed a forceful hit on the Skeletal Dragon's foreleg, but then Narberal furrowed her brows.

Although she could easily strike her opposition like just she had earlier, this was hardly a good matchup for her. She was not skilled at melee combat and her weapon was not suitable for it either.

The Skeletal Dragon was made of an assembly of bones, so piercing and slashing weapons did very little damage to it. However, Narberal did not have bludgeoning weapons, which were ideal for the task, so she had to resort to using her sheath. Although she had the advantage, the poor balance of the improvised weapon meant she could not effectively damage the Skeletal Dragon.

Perhaps a specialized warrior might have been able to maintain his balance, but Narberal was a magic caster and did not know how to do so.

The Skeletal Dragon's forepaw swiped over the crouching Narberal. Though it missed her with its kick, the black flames wreathing its limbs washed over Narberal. However, she resisted them with the 「Protection Energy – Negative」 spell, and the black flames vanished without a trace.

If she had not protected herself, she would probably have been hurt by the additional effects of the blow even if she had avoided it.

"「Ray of Negative Energy」."

Khazit healed the Skeletal Dragon's wounds with a magic ray.

This was also one of the reasons why Narberal was frowning. No matter how much damage she did, Khazit the backliner immediately healed it all. She knew she had to attack Khazit first, but the Skeletal Dragon between Narberal and Khazit did not permit her to do so.

Even a piercing spell like 「Lightning」 would be stopped by the Skeletal Dragon's magic immunity. The area-effect spell 「Electrosphere」 would also be stopped by Khazit's defensive magic, its damage reduced to insignificance.

Then, perhaps by using an enchantment-type spell, she could force him to lower his defenses and win the encounter in one stroke—

"「Charm Person」."

"「Mind of Undeath」."

Narberal and Khazit cast their spells at the same time. Narberal directed a spell which would charm humans at Khazit, while Khazit cast a defensive spell on himself which protected him from mind-affecting spells.

In the end — Khazit smiled triumphantly, while Narberal frowned and clicked her tongue.

Perhaps she had been distracted by Khazit's smile, but a shadow appeared over Narberal's face.

A white object filled Narberal's field of vision.

—She would be hard-pressed to avoid it.

She deftly ducked her head and braced the tip of her sword against her shoulder, turning her sword into a shield. The impact spread through her sword arm and the shoulder which took the blow, practically numbing her entire body and tossing Narberal's body into the air.

This was the result of the Skeletal Dragon aiming a tail swipe at her face.

"Ohohoho."

Though her balance had been broken, Narberal had not fallen down, her legs skillfully braced against the impact. Still, she had been driven back.

This was a good chance for a follow-up attack, but the Skeletal Dragon remained where it was. Its job was to protect Khazit, and so it could not stray too far from him. After sensing this from the Skeletal Dragon, Narberal shook her hands to clear off the numbness and soreness.

Just then, Khazit poked his head out from behind the Skeletal Dragon—

"「Acid Javelin」."

"「Lightning」."

Khazit launched a green, spear-like object that streaked towards Narberal's body. The javelin, which should have dealt her acid damage, stopped several centimeters away from Narberal's body and vanished without a trace. At the same time, the lightning bolt Narberal shot from her fingers was blocked by the Skeletal Dragon's tail and fizzled out.

Khazit and Narberal glared at each other.

"…A defensive spell? How annoying."

"…That should be my line, you inferior lifeform (bagworm moth). How about coming out from behind there and facing me fair and square?"

"And why do I have to come out?"

"Doesn't staying here ruin your plans?"

Khazit knew that Narberal had his number and narrowed his eyes. Narberal smiled nonchalantly.

"…It can't be helped."

After making his decision, Khazit clutched the strange sphere and raised it to the heavens.

"Now behold the power of the Orb of Death!"

The earth trembled, and Narberal's body shook as well. This was a sign that something big was coming.

A massive fissure appeared in the ground, and a white monster slowly revealed itself.

"…Another one."

"Hmph! The negative energy's depleted now, but after I kill you and your friend, I can spread death throughout the city and recover it all!"

Khazit's shouting was angry and emotional, in contrast to the unfazed Narberal.

"Hyaah."

Narberal forcefully exhaled, then sprinted forward with preternatural speed. Khazit was taken by surprise and could not react in time.

The Skeletal Dragons stomped at Narberal, who had entered their attack range, with their forelegs.

Narberal turned and evaded the stomp of the Skeletal Dragon on her right, but the other one was waiting for her. It swept its tail along the ground, like it was going to scythe the grass.

The tail which had nearly hit her thundered through the air in front of Narberal as she leapt a long way back. Then, the tail suddenly changed its direction, swinging down on Narberal, who had just jumped clear.

Narberal avoided the earthshaking blow from the left, but the Skeletal Dragon on the right swiped its forepaw at her as well.

"Guhhh!"

She raised her sword to block the Skeletal Dragon's swipe. Although the paw's crushing pressure was extraordinary, Narberal still stood strong underneath it, and even forced it away. The right-side Skeletal Dragon stumbled several steps back, causing a brief lull in the action.

"…What are you? Blocking it without martial arts… how did you learn to do that!?"

"It is because I was created by the ones who are greater than the gods, the Supreme Beings."

"Are you kidding me!?"

"Even if you knew the truth, you would never understand, and to think you would go so far as to to call me, one who spoke the name of the Supreme Beings, an idiot… this is why I say human beings are inferior lifeforms (planarians)."

Narberal turned a keen glare on Khazit. It was a cold, piercing stare that made him want to back away from her.

The frightened Khazit gave an order, as though to wipe away his fear.

"Skeletal Dragons, get her!"

The Skeletal Dragons kept within range of Khazit and made their move.

Narberal evaded the attack of one of the Skeletal Dragons and moved to close in, but she was forced to avoid the other Skeletal Dragon's attack and missed her chance. This back and forth played out for quite a while, until a decisive blow was struck.

"「Acid Javelin」."

Narberal subconsciously turned her head and avoided the magical javelin headed at her face.

That was a grave mistake. The attack would not have done anything even if it had hit, so she could have safely ignored it. However, it came right at her, so she evaded it by reflex. This was a mistake that only a magic caster, who had not improved their close combat ability, would make.

That mistake had grave consequences.

Whoosh! Narberal's field of view changed dramatically as an ear-splitting impact rang out. She was tossed to the side.

She experienced a brief period of weightlessness before falling heavily to the ground. Her left arm had taken a tail sweep from one of the Skeletal Dragons. The non-stop spinning disoriented her and she had no idea where she was.

Her body was protected by all manner of defensive spells, so there was no pain. However, the two Skeletal Dragons raised their forelegs over Narberal.

One might say she was out of options — normally speaking.

"Surrender, and I'll spare your life. How about it?"

A sadistic grin bloomed on Khazit's face, as he assured himself of his impending victory.

Of course, Khazit was not going to spare her. That look on his face was the kind that looked forward to the girl begging for mercy before he trampled her pathetic form.

Narberal, who had raised her torso off the ground, was so furious that her face was twisted up.

"…erable… human…"

"…What?"

Narberal looked Khazit in the eye and said:

"You miserable little human being. How dare you utter such nonsense, you pile of trash."

Khazit's eyes went wide and he shuddered with rage, and he gave the order to finish her off.

"Destroy her, Skeletal Dragons!"

The two dragons raised their forelegs, and Narberal smiled.

The words of the man she revered had reached her ears. She would hear him, no matter how far away his voice was.

"Narberal Gamma! Display the power of Nazarick!"

"…Understood. Then, I shall no longer face you as Nabe, but as Narberal Gamma."

The Skeletal Dragons brought their forelegs down, intending to crush Narberal's body beneath their forepaws. At the very last moment, Narberal cast a spell before being reduced to paste.

"「Teleportation」."

Narberal's field of vision immediately changed.

She was now about five hundred meters in the air.

Without wings to keep her aloft, Narberal plummeted toward the ground.

The wind shear roared across her body and the ground drew close. Narberal laughed:

"「Fly」."

Her rate of descent slowed and then stopped, until Narberal hung in the air, looking down on the battlefield from just now. Khazit and the two Skeletal Dragons looked around in shock, as Narberal was nowhere to be found.

♦ ♦ ♦

"Haaah~ I'm tired~"

Clementine's flighty words filtered into Ainz's ears.

They had been fighting for several minutes, but Ainz's greatswords had not once touched Clementine.

"Speaking of which~ that's some amazing physical ability you've got there~ you might even be proud of it~ buuut~"

Her expression turned into a predatory grin.

"—Are you stupid? You're just swinging your swords with raw strength and speed, wildly swiping around like a kid with a stick. You might have a sword in each hand, but if you don't know how to use them, then sticking to one sword would be wiser. Aren't you taking the warrior business a little too lightly?"

"Come at me, then. Haven't you been doing nothing but dodging since just now? It won't be good for you if you drag this out for too long, no?"

Ainz chuckled coldly as he replied to her.

Clementine furrowed her brows. He had her there — Clementine had not attacked Ainz.

Instead, she had been dodging his attacks, and that was because Ainz's extraordinary physical attributes did not give her an opening to attack.

Things were not as easy for Clementine as she had claimed. She was beginning to feel angry at herself for not being able to take the initiative and strike.

"You said no warrior could beat you, right? Where's that confidence of yours fled to?"

"…"

Clementine finally went to her weapons after Ainz taunted her. She had four of the piercing weapons called stilettos at her waist, as well as a morningstar. Right now, she drew one of those stilettos.

With his superhuman eyesight, Ainz verified that the morningstar was covered in detritus that looked like blood and chunks of flesh. Ainz tightened his grip on the greatswords in his hands as he stared down Clementine.

Just as both sides were about to strike, the earth shook.

Ainz could not take his eyes away from Clementine, who had taken a fighting stance. He sneaked a glance to the side, and saw that there were two gigantic dragon-shaped monsters made of bone where Narberal was fighting.

"…Skeletal Dragons… huh?"

"Cor-rect~ Looks like you do know a thing or two. Yup~ they're the bane of any magic caster."

"I see. So that's why Nabe can't win."

"In~deed it is," Clementine replied in a mocking tone of voice. She seemed to have regained her composure after the Skeletal Dragons showed up. Ainz furrowed his illusory brows under his helmet.

It was true that Skeletal Dragons were tricky opponents for magic casters, and now there were two of them. Narberal as she was now could not possibly beat them.

As though sensing the agitation in Ainz's heart, Clementine shifted slightly.

This was a move that was intended to seal off his movements, so there would probably be a follow-up to it. When one saw a weakness in a powerful opponent, it would be natural to take the chance and attack.

Ainz cast all thoughts of Narberal from his mind and thrust forth the greatsword in his left hand in an intimidating manner. It was a feint as he slowly raised the greatsword in his right hand in preparation for a powerful strike.

Clementine's weapons were a piercing type, and they could not execute complex attacks like slashing weapons could. They were weapons that were optimized for charges. In addition, stilettos were slender and were certainly not strong enough to survive a clash with greatswords.

Because of that, Ainz used his left-hand greatsword to keep her at bay, waiting for Clementine to close in. However, Clementine knew what he was up to.

"Do you have any way to close this gap?"

"I wonder~"

Clementine had a smug, self-assured look on her face as she responded in her usual self-assured tone. All of this pointed to the fact that she had something up her sleeve.

Clementine slowly changed her posture, lowering herself into what seemed like a runner's crouch. However, her body was still upright, so she looked very strange. It might have appeared comical, but this was definitely not the sort of stance one could take lightly.

And then — Clementine moved. Before Ainz's vigilant eyes, Clementine shot out like a fully compressed spring.

She sprinted right at him.

It was a charge that even Ainz, with his superhuman physical abilities, could hardly believe was possible.

Like a hurricane that devoured everything in its path, Clementine closed the distance between them in an instant. She slid under the greatsword Ainz was holding out, her physical dexterity allowing her to maintain her full speed as she moved.

Ainz — who was shaken by Clementine's serpentine movements — forcefully swung his right-hand sword. The powerful stroke ripped through the air as it surged toward Clementine, promising unimaginable devastation if he connected.

And in that brief instant, Ainz saw the face-splitting grin on her face get even wider.

"「Invulnerable Fortress」."

The unbelievable sight took Ainz aback.

The slender stiletto had actually blocked a hit from a greatsword that was more than ten times its mass.

The stiletto should have snapped under the grand strike it had just blocked head-on. Even if it had remained intact by some miracle, it would have been knocked flying. However, it was Ainz's greatsword which bounced away, like it had struck some ridiculously strong castle wall.

As though throwing herself into a lover's embrace, Clementine rushed toward Ainz's unguarded c.h.e.s.t. In that moment, half of Ainz's field of view was taken up by the grinning Clementine.

Ainz retreated, but his opponent was faster. This attack, which combined a full-tilt charge, all her strength, and skillful use of momentum, could be described as "meteoric."

There was a flash of light, and then the screeching of metal clashing with metal rang through the graveyard.

Clementine ducked the wild swing of Ainz's left-hand sword and then sprang clear.

Ainz knew the secret behind Clementine's flashy moves.

"—Martial arts, huh!?"

These were techniques which did not exist in YGGDRASIL. They could be said to be a warrior's magic — and they were things of which he had to be wary.

Its effect seemed to be to defend against his greatsword hit and neutralize the weapon's impact. She must have used martial arts to deflect Ainz's attack.

"…So haaaard~ what's that armor of your made of? Adamantite… hm?"

Although he did not feel pain, he felt that something sharp had pierced his left shoulder, near the place where he had heard the sound of scraping.

Ainz glanced to the shoulder from where the impact had come, but there was only a slight dent in the armor. Although the armor had no special magical properties, it was still the product of a level one hundred magic caster's spells. The armor's hardness increased with its creator's level, so the fact that there was a dent in the armor was testament to the destructive power of Clementine's strikes.

"Ah well. If that's the case, next time~ hmm, maybe I should hit somewhere with thinner armor~ although I wanted to wear your down bit by bit, then sloooowly torment you once you couldn't move~ what a shame, what a shame."

Ainz realised that Clementine had not been wildly attacking his shoulders, but aiming to disable his arms in order to render him incapable of attacking. For the first time, Ainz felt something like respect toward Clementine the warrior.

All Ainz could do was simply swing his swords and deal damage to the enemy. Of course, if he could hit at all, the enemy would assuredly be slain. However, against a skilled opponent, he had to carefully consider the flow of the battle.

This has been good training for me…

"Mmm, then I'm coming~"

Just as Ainz was admiring Clementine, she took that strange stance she had assumed from just now. In response, Ainz raised his right-hand greatsword to meet the attack. This time, however, he did not thrust forth his left-hand greatsword.

Clementine snorted at Ainz's stance and sprinted. She was so fast that even Ainz and his incredible dynamic vision could barely follow her. If she had not rushed straight at him, he might have lost track of her movements.

In the face of Clementine's full-tilt charge, like an ominous arrow headed straight at him, Ainz swung his right-hand greatsword, launching an attack of his own to intercept her—

"「Invulnerable Fortress」."

—The swing was deflected by the same martial art as before, but he had already predicted this. Ainz had lost his balance in the previous exchange because he had put all his strength into the blow, so this time, he did not use as much force.

Ainz absorbed the radiating impact — as though he had struck a wall — with the strength of his arm, and then he swung his left-hand greatsword. This time, Ainz was fully confident that his foe could not block another full power hit.

However, even faster than that, Clementine used another martial art.

"「Flow Acceleration」."

This martial art had a startling effect.

It felt as though someone had used time-controlling magic to slow time down. Everything moved slowly, as though immersed in some highly viscous fluid. The speed of Ainz's swing slowed to a crawl.

However Clementine moved at the same speed in this decelerated world. She effortlessly dodged Ainz's counterattack and approached Ainz from the front.

This might have been some sort of misperception on Ainz's part. The magic rings which Ainz wore should have protected him from temporal attacks and attacks designed to impede his freedom of movement — although there might be some unknown factor at work here.

He must have felt like she had accelerated all of a sudden because his battle with Clementine was so intense. The important thing was that Ainz had seen this martial art before, but he had not felt the same way back then.

"Gaze—"

Gazef Stronoff had used this technique before.

Before he could finish speaking the name, her stiletto stabbed at him. It was aimed at one of Ainz's eyes, through the narrow vision slit of his helmet.

Ainz forcefully jerked his head to the side, and while he managed to evade the stiletto thrust, the sound of metal shrieking against metal echoed through his helmet. Before he could breathe a sigh of relief that he had avoided the worst of it, he glimpsed Clementine readying her stiletto for another attack out of the corner of his eye.

"Cheh!"

Even after factoring in the differences in their physical abilities, Clementine's straight-line thrust was faster than the circular swing of Ainz's greatsword. This time, the stiletto struck home, hitting Ainz dead on.

"Hm—?"

"Guh!"

A surprised voice and a panicked voice hit the air at the same time.

Ainz pressed his greatsword against his helmet and jumped far back, but there was no follow-up attack.

Clementine glanced at Ainz's unsightly retreat, then looked curiously at the tip of her stiletto. With a mocking laugh, she said:

"That's enough of that handicap stuff. If you don't go all-out you're going to die~"

And then, to clear up her own doubts, Clementine continued asking the silent Ainz:

"Still, how did you do it? I know I hit you, but you're fine. I thought I would have hurt you with that~"

"…Good grief. I've… learned a lot from this battle. First, about these things called martial arts, and also, the fact that I can't swing my swords around blindly during combat, and the importance of maintaining my balance while attacking."

"…Hah? Are you an idiot? If you've only learned that now… then you're a failure as a warrior. Oh well, it doesn't matter since you're going to die here~ though I'd like an answer to my question… was it some sort of defensive martial art~?"

Clementine's tone showed that she had had it with Ainz. He, on the other hand smiled bitterly under his helmet, because he agreed with what she had said.

"No, you're right. I really am unskilled… you have my thanks. Although, since time is tight, playtime is now over."

Paying no heed to the doubt on Clementine's face, Ainz shouted at the top of his voice:

"Narberal Gamma! Display the power of Nazarick!"

He swivelled the sword hilts in his hands and then stabbed the points of both his greatswords into the ground. Ainz extended his empty hands before him, and gently beckoned Clementine over.

"Now then, come at me with the intent to die."

♦ ♦ ♦

"…So, you can use the 「Fly」 spell, looks like you're not bluffing. Although, how did you avoid that last hit? I didn't see you behind the Skeletal Dragons…"

That puzzled question reached Narberal, who was slowly descending from the heavens. Khazit had no idea why she had not used the 「Fly」 spell to escape. She could have done so when encountering the Skeletal Dragons, but she had not. It baffled him.

"Hmph, you think you can win? Against Skeletal Dragons, who are immune to magic?"

"There are any number of ways to win… but before that…"

Narberal grabbed at her shoulder and pulled off her robe.

"Rejoice, inferior lifeform (human). You have the honor of doing battle with Narberal Gamma, one of the battle maids (Pleiades) who are the loyal servants of Ainz Ooal Gown, the Absolute Ruler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick."

Her equipment was completely different. She now wore gauntlets and greaves of gold, silver, and black metal, as well as a set of maid-themed armor which looked like it had come out of a manga. In place of a helmet, she wore a maid's white-brimmed headdress. In her hands she held a staff of gold inlaid with silver.

Player-made items in YGGDRASIL could have their abilities changed by using data crystals. Narberal's robe had a quick-change crystal embedded in it, so she could directly swap out her gear for a set of predetermined equipment without having to waste time changing.

Her cast-off robe now occupied the pocket dimension where they had been.

Khazit narrowed his eyes in puzzlement as he saw the maid before him, and when he finally realized what was going on—

"What?"

—He exclaimed in surprise.

Of course he would have been taken aback when the magic caster before him turned into a maid.

Although he was annoyed by her nonsensical get-up, Narberal's serene expression filled Khazit with a sense of danger. He immediately ordered the Skeletal Dragons to attack. The two Skeletal Dragons drew close to Narberal with surprising speed, swinging their forepaws, which were made of countless bones. Before they could strike home, Narberal cast a spell.

"「Dimensional Move」."

"That again!"

Once more, Narberal vanished without a trace.

Khazit looked to the sky to look for the missing Narberal as he thought of what had happened earlier. However, it was his pain that told him where Narberal was.

"—Gyaaah!"

Khazit's wail resounded throughout the graveyard. A searing pain pierced Khazit's left shoulder, and the pain spread through his body with the pulse of his heartbeat.

A shocked Khazit looked at the wound, at the sharp blade that protruded from the wound.

"—Gah, gaaaah!"

NarbKhazit.jpg

In the next moment, the blade was savagely withdrawn, and pain washed over him again. The sensation of something scraping his bones filled his body, made worse by the agony that gripped him. Thick blood gushed from the wound, staining his black robe.

Drooling from the intense pain, Khazit jerked his head back to see what was going on.

All he saw was Narberal, looking at him curiously.

"Did it hurt that much?"

"—!"

Narberal was holding a black-bladed dagger in the hand that was not holding her staff.

Khazit was in so much pain that he could not speak.

Magic casters typically shunned the frontline, and Khazit was the sort who was served by and dealt out pain to others. Thus, pain was not a common experience for him, which was why his tolerance for it was so low.

Oily sweat beading on his forehead, Khazit issued a mental command to the Skeletal Dragons. Narberal fell back, drawing away from the approaching Skeletal Dragons. The 「Fly」 spell was faster than the running speed of a normal man.

The two Skeletal Dragons charged into the space left by Narberal.

After hiding in the safe space behind the Skeletal Dragons, Khazit's calm returned to him, and he finally understood the kind of spell Narberal had used.

That was—

"So it was teleportation magic!"

「Dimensional Move」 was a third tier spell, but to magic casters, it was an escape spell used to put distance between themselves and their adversaries.

However, that was only the case for magic casters, who were an unathletic lot. For a magic caster with fighting prowess that was on par with a warrior, that spell was arguably more valuable than even a weak attack spell, given that it was very difficult to defend against.

Khazit pressed down on his shoulder and glared at Narberal.

"I see, so you were planning to kill me with teleportation! You must have escaped with teleportation as well just now!"

Indeed, it was a tricky trump card to deal with. Since magic was useless against the Skeletal Dragons, the sensible thing was to kill their controller. In addition, with Narberal's skillful use of teleportation, Khazit would have a very hard time dodging.

However, Narberal casually answered:

"How could that be?"

Khazit could not comprehend what she was saying for a moment, and blinked nonstop. Narberal returned the shortsword to its sheath, and began explaining:

"I was simply demonstrating that I could kill you easily."

Narberal had shown him how she could turn a thoroughly unfavorable situation around, but she had completely abandoned that method. Khazit had no idea what she was up to.

"…Are you mad?"

"Granted, you are an inferior lifeform (flea), but what kind of answer is that? Use that head of yours a little."

Khazit shuddered as he saw Narberal's cold glare.

He was not trembling in anger, but in fear. Unease welled up within Khazit's mind.

"Well, it's about time to wrap this up. As a servant, it would be rude of me to keep Ainz-sama waiting… You seem to think magic is useless against Skeletal Dragons. Then, I shall enlighten you, inferior lifeform (shore fly). The fee for that lesson will be your life."

She released her staff and clapped her hands together. As she drew them apart again, tongues of white lightning arced between them. They took the form of dragons, and the air around them began glowing and crackling with energy.

The white radiance seemed to engulf Narberal.

"…Erk."

Khazit stared, at a loss for words. He could understand that this was a mighty spell that exceeded his own frame of reference. Amidst the actinic white radiance, the cold smile on Narberal's face branded itself onto his eyes.

The massive bodies of the Skeletal Dragons loomed before him. As he recalled their existence, an alarm screamed within him.

"—You, you think you can beat Skeletal Dragons, who are immune to all magic? Go! Kill her!"

Khazit's shouted order was laced with the panic he could no longer hide.

As the two Skeletal Dragons drew close, Narberal laughed. It was the laugh of a merciless master correcting her foolish pupil.

"Immune to all magic? It's true that Skeletal Dragons resist magic, but that ability only applies to spells of the sixth tier and below."

The Skeletal Dragons would not reach Narberal for some time yet. During that delay, the strangely calm Khazit finally realised the meaning of Narberal's words.

"—In other words, Skeletal Dragons cannot resist the spells of a higher tier which I, Narberal Gamma, can use."

She was not lying. That was what Khazit's instincts told him.

In other words, this woman could eliminate the Skeletal Dragons and slay Khazit as well—

"Why!? My sweat and blood of five years, gone in less than an hour!"

As Khazit let out that mournful wail, countless scenes flashed through his mind, as though he were viewing a zoetrope.

♦ ♦ ♦

Khazit Dale Badantel.

Born in a village on the outskirts of the Slaine Theocracy, his mother was a calm, serene woman while his father had a strong body from working in the village. His childhood was mundane.

The reason why he had ended up like this was because he had seen his mother's corpse.

That day — when the setting sun was clearly visible in the sky — Khazit panted as he ran home. His mother wanted him back earlier, but he had been late because of small things he could not clearly recall. Looking for pretty stones outside the village, playing at being heroes while wielding sticks, all these insignificant things had come together and delayed him.

He ran home, afraid that his mother would scold him, but when he got there, he found his mother collapsed on the ground. He could still clearly remember the warmth of his mother's body when he rushed over to touch her.

He thought it was just a joke, but things turned out otherwise.

Khazit's mother had already departed this world.

According to the clerics, she had died because "she had a blood clot in her brain."

In other words, it was nobody's fault. Nobody was to blame. No. Khazit felt that someone was responsible.

That someone was himself. If only he had returned home earlier, he might have been able to save his mother.

There were many divine magic casters in the Slaine Theocracy, and there were quite a few in Khazit's own village. If only he had begged them for help, perhaps his mother might be well, and still smiling at him.

The person who had caused his beloved mother's face to twist in agony was none other than himself.

Khazit made up his mind to atone for his misdeed — in other words, he would bring his mother back to life.

Yet, the more magic he learned, the bigger the problems he encountered.

There was a resurrection spell in the fifth tier of divine magic, but that spell could not resurrect his mother. Resurrection expended a tremendous amount of life force on the part of the dead person, and the deceased who lacked sufficient life force would not be resurrected, but reduced to ash and dust. His mother did not have the necessary vitality.

Nor did he have the time needed to research a new resurrection spell. However, if he abandoned his humanity and became undead, he might be able to buy himself enough time to eventually develop a new spell to raise the dead.

That was the conclusion which Khazit had arrived at.

He abandoned the divine magic he had studied all his life, and stepped on the path of using arcane magic to become undead. However, there were still obstacles in his way.

After walking the path of an arcane magic caster, he would still need a very long time to become a high tier undead creature, even after forsaking his humanity. And of course, there might be obstacles in his way, in the form of talent and ability, and he might not even be able to become undead in the first place.

One of the way to overcome these obstacles was to gather a massive amount of negative energy — yes, by killing an entire city's worth of people — and turning them into undead in order to harness the negative energy they would generate.

And then, just as his wish was nearly granted, another obstacle appeared in his way.

♦ ♦ ♦

"I spent five years preparing in this city! I've held onto this dream for thirty years! What gives you the right to destroy all of this!? You, who appeared out of nowhere!?"

Khazit's cry was answered by cold laughter.

"I have no interest in the dreams of inferior lifeforms (you). Although, your so-called effort did manage to make me laugh. Still, I do have some words for you… well done on becoming a stepping stone for Ainz-sama."

"「Twin Maximize Magic – Chain Dragon Lightning」."

A roaring, coiling stream of dragon-shaped lightning appeared around both of Narberal's hands.

The lightning discharges were wider than her arms, and they struck the Skeletal Dragons. The vast white buddies shuddered from the impact. The twin lightning blasts wrapped around the Skeletal Dragons' bodies, burning the false life that animated their corpses out of existence.

The end came in an instant.

Under the power of the magic lightning, the Skeletal Dragons and their supposed absolute immunity to magic were torn asunder.

Even though the Skeletal Dragons had been disintegrated, the lightning strikes did not disappear. The two arcs of dragon-shaped lightning seemed to be searching for their quarry, then they raised their heads and sprang at their final prey.

Khazit's vision was obliterated in a sea of white.

He had no time to beg for mercy, nor did he have time to scream.

The tears at the corners of his eyes flashed into steam, leaving behind a whispered "Mum—" The searing light consumed Khazit, and the lightning pierced him without mercy.

Khazit's body went into full-body seizures, as though he were performing some strange dance where he stood.

The current penetrated deep into Khazit's body and ignited him from the inside. After it had vanished, the smoking Khazit collapsed to the ground.

The stench of burning flesh filled the air.

Narberal shrugged, and muttered something to the pile of scorched meat that had once been Khazit:

"Even inferior lifeforms (insects) smell good after they've been roasted… I wonder if it would be fine to give him to Entoma as a present…"

A mocking smile came over Narberal's face as she mentioned the name of her human-eating colleague.

♦ ♦ ♦

The warrior spread his arms, as if he were going to hug someone.

"…Now what tricks are you up to, hm!? Giving up already?"

"Giving up? Since I've given Narberal her orders, I should wrap things up here as well."

"What? What nonsense are you babbling—? You think you can beat, the great Clementine without any martial arts? You're pissing me off."

"I have to say, the ravings of a weakling like yourself are quite impressive."

Clementine wanted to retort with, "That would be you, right?" but she suppressed the boiling rage in her heart.

The man before her did not have much in the way of combat skills, but he possessed superhuman physical abilities. As far as she knew, said abilities were second only to those of the two God-Kin — the Black Scripture's Extra Seat and its First Seat (who was also the Black Scripture's leader). Therefore, the way he swung his weapons at his whim became an unpredictable attack and defense, and if she was not careful, she might be killed in a single blow.

Clementine faked her usual sneer, and taunted him in turn:

"…Forget it. You're right, we should wrap things up quickly."

Momon the warrior simply shrugged.

Clementine eyed his stance. There were openings everywhere in his stance, but that could not possibly be all there was to him. It was a trap.

However, Clementine had no choice. Her words from earlier might have sounded like a joke, but she meant them. She could probably escape from here by borrowing the power of the Skeletal Dragons, but that was only if she did not waste any more time. Though she had come along to avoid the agents of the Windflower Scripture, she had wasted too much time on playing.

Clementine slowly sank into a crouch, strengthening her grip on her stiletto.

She had to finish this fight quickly, preferably with a single stroke.

Part of that was because she no longer had time to waste, but it was also because the attacks and parries of the man before her were gradually becoming more and more competent. It would be best to kill him now before he grew to a point where she could no longer do so.

Clementine exhaled loudly and then she surged forward.

「Gale Stride」. 「Greater Evasion」. 「Ability Boost」. 「Greater Ability Boost」. Those were the same four techniques she had used earlier, in an attempt to shrink the gap between their physical abilities. In addition, she still had room to use other techniques, no matter what Momon tried.

In this high-speed world, she was fully aware of anything her opponent could do.

He might draw his swords from the ground to attack, or use a martial art, or an unarmed strike, or a hidden weapon… no, he might use a thrown weapon instead.

Clementine guessed that there were dozens of tactics her foe could employ, and she was confident that she could defeat each and every one of them.

However, every single one of her guesses fell short of the mark.

—Because her opponent did nothing.

The dark warrior stretched out his arms, waiting for the attack.

A shiver ran down her spine. This was the fear of something beyond her imagination, a fear of the unknown.

Should she charge bravely forward, or back off and flee?

Those were the only two options left to her.

Clementine was cruel and merciless, but she was no fool. In that fraction of a second, she worked out countless possibilities and countermeasures.

In the end, it was her pride and her confidence in her abilities which spurred Clementine on.

Though she had betrayed them, she had once been a member of the Slaine Theocracy's strongest special operations group — the Black Scripture. There were probably less than ten warriors who could defeat her. It was unthinkable that she should flee from Momon, an unknown fighter with hardly any skills to speak of.

Once she made her decision, the rest was easy. There was no need to hesitate any further. As she recovered the composure of a first-rate warrior, Clementine sprinted for Momon's c.h.e.s.t — so fast it seemed they were going to embrace each other.

"Die—!"

Using all the muscles in her body, Clementine thrust her stiletto into the vision slit of Momon's full helm. Then she twisted it, as though intending to cause further damage to the surrounding organs while driving it deeper into his head. All this was to inflict a fatal blow.

Although his armored hands drew closer, as if to hug her, she paid it no heed and followed up on her attack.

In keeping with Clementine's d.e.s.i.r.e to deal a fatal strike, she unleashed the spell stored within the stiletto. That spell was called 「Lightning」.

Lightning bolts shot through Ainz's body.

Clementine's weapons possessed a Magic Acc.u.mulate enchantment. She could store a spell within the weapon and release it later. Although the act of doing so would expend the spell, that stored spell could be just about any sort of magic. Thus, it was a handy enchantment which allowed her to prepare for just about any situation with the right stored spell.

She drove the stiletto deep into his skull and then released a lightning attack on top of it — this was certainly a fatal blow.

However—

"I'm not done yet! 「Flow Acceleration」!"

Even faster than before, she drove another stiletto into the full helm's vision slit, and then released the 「Fireball」 spell locked within. In her mind, Clementine saw Momon's body burning within his armor, and she imagined she could smell his scorched and blackened flesh.

However, Clementine's eyes went wide in shock, as she was confronted by an unexpected sight.

"Hm, I see. YGGDRASIL did not have magic weapons like this. Well, this is an eye-opener."

Despite having stilettos stabbed through both his eye sockets, Ainz was still muttering casually to himself. Clementine then realized that there had been no blood when she stabbed him.

"No way! Impossible! Why aren't you dead!?"

She had never heard of a martial art like this which could make people invincible. Or had he used some other method to deal with her stabs? If that were the case, how had he stopped the follow-up magical attacks?

Even a hardened veteran like Clementine had no answer to those questions.

"!?"

Clementine's body was swallowed in an embrace, and she was now pressed against Momon. The adventurers' plates rattled.

"Shall I tell you the answer?"

The jet-black full plate vanished, revealing a terrible face beneath.

It was a fleshless skull. Her stilettos protruded from his empty eye sockets — through the Black Mirrorshades covering them — but it did not seem to be in the slightest bit of pain.

Clementine knew what that face meant.

"Undead… an Elder Lich!?"

"…? …Well, I had a lot of questions to ask you, but I guess not. All I can say is that your answer came quite close. Then—"

The monster before her had neither skin nor flesh, and so it should not have an expression on its face. Yet, Clementine had the feeling that it was smiling at her.

"How does it feel? How does it feel to fight a magic caster with sword in hand? How does it feel to be unable to finish things in a heartbeat?"

"Don't, don't look down on me!"

Clementine used all her strength to struggle free, but she was held immobile, as though by sturdy chains.

Elder Liches were powerful undead who were skilled in the use of magic attacks, but their physical abilities were not very impressive. Clementine should have had the advantage.

However—

"W-Why!?"

—She could not get free.

Once she realized that the mighty arm which held her — in other words, his physical strength — was not the result of his armor's enchantment, Clementine froze. What she saw in her mind was a butterfly trapped in a spider's web, with no way out.

"…This is what I meant by a handicap. Simply put, there was no need for me to go all out — that is to say, cast a spell — against an opponent like you."

"Son of a bitch—!"

"Well then, since the truth's out, let's begin… but first, these are in the way."

There was a grinding sound as the Elder Lich pulled out the stilettos which had been stabbed into its eyes and cast them aside. As the undead creature did this, Clementine was still struggling for dear life, but even her full strength could not compare to the power in just a single arm of his. All she could do was squirm helplessly within his embrace, unable to move.

After the two stilettos were drawn out, an evil red light remained in those empty eye sockets. They looked down on the panting, gasping Clementine as she exerted herself.

"Now then, shall we begin?"

Clementine — who was on guard against anything her opponent might try to pull ever since she heard the word "begin" — felt herself being drawn nearer to the Elder Lich, closer than even lovers were.

After that, she heard a strange creaking sound.

Clementine understood what the Elder Lich was doing as a chill ran down her spine, as though she had been impaled by an icicle.

"…No… no way, you bastard—!"

The creaking sound was the bending of armor.

—He was planning to crush her flat against his own c.h.e.s.t.

Of course her own armor would press against the Elder Lich's c.h.e.s.t, but he must have used some method to harden his own body. His immovable body was like a sturdy, thick wall.

"Perhaps if you were weaker…"

The Elder Lich withdrew a dagger from somewhere. It was black, with four jewels set into its hilt.

"I thought about using this to finish you off… but well, isn't it all the same if you get stabbed to death by a sword, die by having your spine broken, or get crushed to death? In the end, you die."

Clementine's body shuddered.

His casual tone caused panic to bloom in her heart, and the crushing pressure on her c.h.e.s.t grew. The metal plates taken from the adventurers she had killed could no longer bear the strain, and they scattered to the ground like they were being buried.

The first to fall were the four silver plates which she had recently acquired.

It was frightening how it was becoming more and more painful to breathe.

She hated the arm at her back, the one which held her.

She resented herself for wearing light armor to increase her evasive ability and to display her adventurer's plate trophies.

Clementine knew that swords were useless against the Elder Lich, and so she punched wildly at his face. However, that hurt Clementine more than it did him. Then, as the pain set in, she reached for her morningstar to maul him, but she was not used to wielding it and injured herself instead.

She could clearly see the fate awaiting her. From how the act of breathing was getting more and more difficult, the ever-increasing pressure on her belly, her slowly deforming armor, she knew exactly what was going to happen to her.

"Don't bother struggling. Do you think I can't end this quickly just by changing where my arm is pressing? You took your time killing them, so I'm going to take my time killing you as well."

Clementine desperately flailed at him.

She tried to push his face away, scratched at him until her nails nearly came off, even tried biting him — but nothing she did worked, and the unbearable pressure kept increasing.

No matter how hard she struggled, she could not break free of the arm binding her. Even so, Clementine kept squirming, betting everything for a slim chance at hope even as it became difficult to breathe and her vision began blacking out.

"Is this the dance of death?"

She did not even have the strength to hear those whispered words.

There was the sound of retching, and then vomit spewed over Ainz's body. The scarlet points of light in Ainz's eyes dimmed slightly.

Clementine, who had been desperately swinging her arms about in the hope of escaping, was now a spasming lump of meat.

Still, Ainz did not loosen his grip, but tightened it further. Soon, the feeling of thick bones breaking ran up through Ainz's arms.

He released the body, which could not even twitch any more.

Clementine's body thudded heavily on the ground, like a sack of rubbish. Her face was a hideous blend of agony and terror. Like a deep sea fish brought up to the surface, one could see her internal organs in her mouth.

Ainz took out his Pitcher of Endless Water, and used its ever flowing stream of clean water to rid himself of the vomit that stuck to his body. At the same time, he spoke casually to Clementine, who could no longer answer him:

"I forgot to tell you… but I am a terrible hypocrite."

Part 5

Just as Ainz was starting to get annoyed by having to wet his clothes while cleaning his body, he heard a huge object approaching fast. He turned toward the source of the sound, and as it turned out, it was Hamsuke.

Hamsuke's fighting power was far weaker than that of Ainz or Narberal. Allowing it to fight would only lead to unnecessary injuries. Therefore, he ordered it to stand by some distance away. It must have come because it could not hear the sound of fighting any more.

He recognized the expression on the giant hamster's adorable face — it was worried for Ainz — and he went a little weak.

The giant hamster, which did not know what its master was thinking, approached Ainz with unexpected speed and then looked around. When it locked eyes with Ainz:

"Geh—!"

It flipped over and bared its belly while wailing:

"…There's a horrible monster here! Milord! Milord~!"

Ainz grabbed his head, all the strength fleeing his body. Come to think of it, he had not yet shown Hamsuke his true form. However, he could not let it continue making a racket here. As he looked to the graveyard wall in the distance, he saw that the adventurers were still battling the Wraiths. Judging by distance alone they should not be able to hear Hamsuke, but there was no guarantee of that.

In a stern tone, Ainz scolded Hamsuke:

"…That's enough clowning around from you."

"Oh? That manly and commanding voice… could it be milord?"

"…Indeed. That's why I want you to keep your voice down."

"Unbelievable! This is more than what I expected… though I long knew milord was possessed of tremendous power… this Hamsuke's faithful loyalty to you is redoubled!"

"Is that so? However, I'll say it again — keep your voice down."

"That, that's cruel, milord! Please do not make light of your servant's pledge of loyalty!"

"…Did you not hear what Ainz-sama said? Fool."

Part of Hamsuke's body flattened as it was kicked into the distance. In place of its body was Narberal's foot, which she slowly withdrew.

"Ainz-sama, there should be no value in raising this foolish lifeform. Would you allow your loyal servant to incinerate it with lightning?"

"No… being known as the one who commands the Wise King of the Forest is quite worthwhile. Having it alive and well on our travels is beneficial to us. Back to the point — Narberal, time is short. Go loot their bodies. We might need to turn their possessions over to the local authorities, so we need to ascertain the value of those objects first."

"Understood."

"I will be in the chapel. Take care of the rest."

"Yes! Then… what about the corpses? Should we take them back to Nazarick?"

"No. We might need to hand over the masterminds behind the incident, so just take their equipment."

"Understood."

"Owie…"

Hamsuke — who had just run back — sighed with deliberate loudness. Narberal glared coldly at him:

"Ainz-sama's words are more important than anything you have to say. This is basic knowledge for one of his servants. A lifeform like you is the lowest-ranked of all his minions, so you will either pay attention or I will kill you on the spot."

Hamsuke shivered.

"Next time, it will not be a physical attack, but magic. For the crime of disobeying Ainz-sama, you will suffer until you pray for death."

"I understand… please do not put on that scary face… although, I was quite surprised by how majestic he looked. It was quite impressive."

Narberal's expression softened a little and she said:

"Indeed. Ainz-sama cuts an impressive figure. At least you have good taste."

"Thank you for your praise. But if that is how milord looks, then do you have another face as well, Narberal-dono?"

"…I am a Doppelganger. This face of mine is made by my own innate abilities. Watch."

She removed a glove and revealed a hand with only three fingers, which were longer than human fingers. They resembled the bodies of peppered moths.

"I, I see…"

"Don't look so surprised. You're a servant in the Great Tomb of Nazarick as well, so don't make such a big deal over such small things. Anyway, I'm going to strip the magic items from the corpses, so come along and help me."

"Yes! Understood!"

♦ ♦ ♦

The boy (Nfirea) was in the chapel. As Ainz looked at him, the red light in his eye sockets dimmed.

He wore a strange, transparent outfit which drew attention to his body, but Ainz's attention was on his face.

Someone had cut him across the face and punctured his eyes. From the tear-shaped clots of reddish-black blood that wept down his cheeks, it was clear that he was blind.

"Well… blindness can be cured… magic really is convenient."

The question now was Nfirea's current condition.

He had been standing up here, but had not reacted to Ainz's arrival. Even if his eyes could not see, he should have known that someone was coming. However, there was no reaction, which implied one thing — mind control. The question now was what sort of control he was under.

"It must be this."

Ainz's gaze settled on the spiderweb-like crown which rested on Nfirea's head. Or rather, it would be better to say that nothing else looked more suspicious than it.

Just as he reached out to remove the crown, Ainz stopped himself halfway. Since he did not know what had caused this, he should not make any careless moves. Therefore, Ainz cast a spell on the crown.

"「All Appraisal Magic Item」."

In YGGDRASIL, this spell would tell its caster about a magic item's creator and manufacturer. The spell could also be cast here. No, beyond that, information which could not appear in YGGDRASIL showed up in Ainz's mind.

"The Crown of Wisdom… I see. However… this item's abilities don't exist in YGGDRASIL… so it's a magic item that could not have existed in YGGDRASIL."

Ainz sighed after learning all this, and began thinking about what to do next.

He was mainly concerned about the benefits of bringing Nfirea back to the Great Tomb of Nazarick. The prospect of gaining a rare magic item and an equally rare talent-holder was very attractive.

However, his hesitation only lasted for a moment.

"Since I accepted this task, failing it on purpose would stain the name of Ainz Ooal Gown."

"「Greater Break Item」."

Ainz cast a spell on the crown. The sight of it decomposing into sparkling dust was quite beautiful.

Ainz tenderly embraced the limp youth and gently laid him on the ground. Then he examined Nfirea's face.

"After this… all I need to do is heal his eyes… though I probably shouldn't do that here."

Ainz touched his face and then rose slowly. The undead he had summoned had not been completely wiped out yet, but he sensed that some of them had already been destroyed. Soon, the reinforcements — or rather, interfering busybodies — would find this place. Before that, he had to recast his facial illusion and remake his swords and armor.

He also had to recover their magic items quickly.

Unlike how things were when he PKed in YGGDRASIL, he could take all their weapons and gear for this own. It pleased him.

As he looked back to see if he needed to help Narberal collect the equipment, she appeared at the entrance of the chapel.

"Ainz-sama."

"What's the matter? Have you already collected the enemy's gear? How about their cash?"

"Yes. However, there is something I wanted to consult you about, concerning this."

Narberal advanced into the chapel, a black orb in her hand. It looked uneven, like a pebble one might find by the side of a river, and it did not seem very valuable.

"…What is that?"

"It seems to be something which the inferior lifeform (flatworm) I fought treasured deeply. However, I do not know what effects it has…"

"Is that so?"

Narberal the NPC knew far fewer spells than Ainz, and most of them were combat spells. This was why she could not appraise its value.

Ainz picked up the orb, and cast the same spell he had just now.

"「All Appraisal Magic Item」."

The red points of light which served as Ainz's eyes lit up.

"What is this…? The Orb of Death? And… it's an intelligent magic item?"

The Orb of Death was an impressive name, but it was hardly outstanding.

It aided in controlling the undead, and it could cast several different necromantic spells every day, but none of those appealed to Ainz. It also had the drawback of mentally dominating humans who held it, although Ainz and Narberal — who possessed defenses against mind-affecting effects — were immune, as were demihumans or heteromorphic creatures.

"What a strange item…"

The only thing which intrigued him was the fact that it was an intelligent magic item.

Ainz poked it lightly, and just as he was about to command it to speak, there was a voice in his head.

"—Greetings to you, oh mighty King of Death."

Those words echoed within his skull. Ainz continued looking at the Orb. In a world of monsters and magic, this was hardly something to shout about.

"Umu, it really is an intelligent magic item."

Ainz nimbly rolled the Orb from hand to hand, and then continued examining it. However, the Orb did not show any sign of wanting to speak. Ainz pondered the situation, and then after deciding a possible reason for this, he said:

"I permit you to speak."

"—You have my deepest thanks, mighty King of Death."

This reaction reminded Ainz of the loyal NPCs of Nazarick, and he chuckled.

"—Please accept the utmost respect of this one for the absolute aura of Death which surrounds you."

I should have dispelled all my auras. Why does this item keep calling me the King of Death?

"I shall permit it."

"—My deepest thanks, oh Supreme Overlord of Death. I am deeply grateful to all the forms of death which exist within this world that I could encounter an exalted being like yourself."

Though the Orb was laying it on a bit thick, those words seemed sincere enough. It made Ainz's back itch a little, so he thrust his c.h.e.s.t forward and said:

"And? Can you speak anything besides flattery?"

"—Yes. This one deeply apologizes for this thoughtless request, but this one has a wish that it hopes you will help to grant."

"What wish?"

"—Yes. This one has always felt that it had come to this world in order to spread death, but after meeting a mighty King of Death like yourself, this one realised that it had been truly born in order to serve you."

"…Oh."

"—Oh mighty King of Death, please accept this one's fealty. This one hopes to have a place among your faithful servants."

It sounded sincere enough, and if it had a head, it would probably have been lowered. Ainz pressed his knuckles to his mouth and began thinking. He had to consider the merits and demerits of taking it as a minion, whether it was reliable, and so on.

Ainz examined the magic item again. For safety's sake, he should probably destroy it. However, something like this did not exist in YGGDRASIL, so destroying it would be a waste.

After casting several protective spells on the Orb, Ainz called out to the giant hamster that had entered the chapel.

"Hamsuke."

"What does milord d.e.s.i.r.e?"

"Take it."

Ainz tossed the Orb he was holding, and Hamsuke nimbly caught it.

"May I ask milord about this item?"

"It's a magic item. You can use it, right?"

"Mm… I should be able to! But it's noisy! It's so loud I want to return it to milord."

Narberal looked at Hamsuke, her eyes wide.

"Are you giving it to the newcomer?"

Ainz could tell from the way she had lost control of her voice that Narberal was deeply shaken.

"Though I've already cast anti-detection spells on it, I can't say it's perfectly safe, so it's better to hand it to Hamsuke."

"I see! As expected of Ainz-sama. Your wise judgements are impeccable."

Before him were Narberal and Hamsuke, who was bowing. Its cheeks were larger than a human's fists.

Just as he was about to order them to fall back, Ainz noticed his bright red cape. On a whim, he grabbed its hem.

"Now then. If the recovery is complete, then let us take Nfirea—"

Ainz flourished his red cape in a grandiose manner.

"—And return in triumph."