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Overlord - Chapter 25
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1
Ainz and the others’ base was where Cocytus had been the previous day, the fortress Aura was in the process of building. If they listened closely, they could hear the sound of construction in the distance.
When Ainz entered one of the rooms, Victim, who had been silently following, spoke to him. “Eggshell teal fuchsia-scarlet-ash-crimson-clay-grape, gray-jonquil-orange teal peach-peach eggshell chestnut-gray-ivory-opal khaki clay-brown-eggshell scarlet-jonquil-jonquil-silk-grape-crimson. \”
“Nice work today. Then until we get back, please watch over level one.”
“Ivory-orange-peach-grape-cream-grape-orange-jonquil. ”
“Gate.”
Victim disappeared into the gate of darkness (leading to the first level of the Great Tomb of Nazarick) that Ainz made.
After seeing off the guardian that had a powerful death-activated detainment skill, Ainz turned his attention to the room. At the same time, he sensed Aura in the back, staring at the floor.
She had probably been trying to get the interior decoration together for Ainz’s arrival. There was evidence of her painful efforts here and there around the room, but it still didn’t look as good as Nazarick. She seemed ashamed.
It’s really not so bad, though…
Ainz was once a normal person, so it didn’t bother him so much. His quarters in Nazarick weren’t bad, either, but they were too luxurious; sometimes he didn’t know what to do with himself there. Here, he could actually relax, so it was nice.
I want an eight-tatami-mat studio. Maybe I should just secretly make one somewhere. Oh! I have to make sure to praise my underling’s work. I have to tell Aura how satisfied I am with what she’s done here.
Watch over your workers with gratitude. Without trust, they will not flourish. Ainz remembered the words he’d seen framed and hung in the president’s office at a client company. He didn’t know who’d said it, but he thought it was a great quote. That was how an ideal boss should act. You have to express gratitude in words. If you don’t praise people, they won’t work… Something like that?
“Sorry I insisted on staying here, Aura. You don’t have to worry about
anything. I think highly of your work, and since you prepared this place for
me, I consider it equal to Nazarick.”
“…Yes, sir.” Her eyes widened a little.
Did that make her feel better? Ainz wondered, but he couldn’t think of anything else good to say, so he examined the room again to divert the conversation.
It still smelled strongly of wood. Returning to Nazarick would definitely be safer than staying somewhere so vulnerable. This place had no defensive spells cast on it—in a way, it was like a house made of paper. But one could also say it was the perfect place to set himself up as bait to catch a big fish.
Since its location was fairly removed from the lake, the only ones who could come after him here would be Yggdrasil players, if there were any, or those with equivalent power. In other words, he’d planned it so that any raid on this place would reveal a powerful enemy.
Of course it was dangerous. But Ainz felt that nothing ventured meant nothing gained.
Nobody’s coming? Or…did this operation also fail? …What’s that? “Aura, let me ask you something. What is that?” Ainz’s gaze fell on a white chair in the back of the room. It had a tall back and an imposing appearance. It was so magnificently crafted that it would have done well as a work of art—as long as one issue was ignored.
“Though it be plain, I prepared you a throne.” It was Demiurge, following behind him, who answered.
I figured, thought Ainz and asked another question. “…What kind of bones are those?”
“Various different animals. I collected the good bits from things like griffins and wyverns.”
“I…I see…”
It was a throne made of numerous bones. Nothing like it existed in Nazarick, so Demiurge must have made it while he was out. It seemed to contain more than a few things that couldn’t be anything but skulls—human, or perhaps subhuman. Although the throne was made from bleach-white bones with no blood or meat clinging to them, it still seemed to radiate an unpleasant gory smell.
Should I sit in this creepy thing? Ainz hesitated for a moment. But his subordinate had prepared it for him, so it would be rude to not sit in it. It would be different if he had a legitimate reason to refuse…
After considering several options, Ainz thumped his hand. “…Shalltear, I believe I said I would punish you. I’ll do it right now. Yes…I’ll humiliate you.”
“My lord!” She seemed a bit surprised at the sudden address.
“Down on your knees and hang your head. Get on all fours.”
“Yes, sir.” Looking slightly confused, she proceeded to the place he’d indicated in the center of the room and got into the position he’d described.
Ainz moved next to her and sat down on her slender back.
“L-Lord Ainz!” Shalltear emitted an airy cry of surprise. The reason she didn’t move a muscle despite being so shaken was because Ainz was on top of her.
“Be my chair here. Got it?”
“Yes, sir!”
Ainz shifted his gaze away from Shalltear, who seemed awfully happy, to Demiurge. “Sorry, Demiurge. Perhaps another time.”
“Aha! Brilliant! That you would sit on a guardian! Certainly no one else could have such a chair; in other words, how perfectly suited to a Supreme Being! I’m impressed as always, Lord Ainz. I would never have thought of it!”
“I—I see…” Ainz looked away from Demiurge’s fairly sparkling face and wondered what the big smile was for when a beautiful woman addressed him, beaming.
“Excuse me, Lord Ainz. May I exit the room for just a moment? I’ll return straightaway.”
“What’s the matter, Albedo? Well, it’s fine. Go ahead.”
She thanked him and left the room. Immediately afterward they heard a woman’s voice shout, “Raaaaaagh!” and the noise of something smashing into the wall. The whole building shook.
A minute later, Albedo returned to the silent room wearing her usual gentle smile. “I’ve returned, Lord Ainz. Oh, Aura, when I left the room, I accidentally bumped into the wall. It seems to have broken, so do you think you could fix it later? Sorry about that.”
“Oh, uh, okay… Sure, I’ll fix it.”
Ainz sighed and swallowed all the things he wanted to say. He arrested his gaze, which threatened to ascend into the air, and tethered it to his staff and its ominous aura.
He couldn’t very well bring the real thing to such a dangerous location, so this was an imitation Guild Weapon, a prototype that he’d crafted. Since he had included an item that had been lying around in the treasury since their experiments with effects, visually, it was practically perfect—a polished fake.
If the Guild Weapon was destroyed, the guild would collapse, so he couldn’t just carry it around casually. That was why he had left it in the care of the domain guardian of the Cherry Blossom Sanctuary on level eight.
I’ve thought of defensive actions we can take if a ring gets stolen, but I’d really like to… Well, I guess we can’t really test for that… As Ainz pondered, Shalltear began to fidget. She was making slight adjustments so the position of Ainz’s butt would make it easier for him to sit. Feeling a bizarre tickle, he looked down at the back of her head.
She was breathing hard.
He was probably heavy. The slender back beneath him was that of a fourteen-year-old girl. A large adult was seated on a little girl’s back. It hit him what a perverted, shameful, cruel thing he was doing, and he thought maybe he’d gone a bit too far.
Shalltear was an NPC created by an old friend. Peroroncino probably never thought she would be used this way. Ainz felt like he was dishonoring his old guildmate, so he thought it could count as punishment for himself as well, but he knew that was foolish. I shouldn’t be causing Shalltear this much pain… I’m hopelessly awful.
“Shalltear, does it hurt?”
He would stop. He was about to stand when she turned her head around to look up at him. Her face was flushed red, and her eyes glittered with lust. “It doesn’t hurt at all! It’s more like a reward!”
She panted, exhaling the abnormal heat building up in her body with every breath, and Ainz was reflected in her gooey eyes. Her glistening beet-red tongue licked her lips, leaving behind a bewitching sparkle of light. The slight wriggling of her body reminded him of a snake.
No matter how he looked at it, she was burning up with desire.
“…Yikes.”
It creeped him right out.
He instinctively began to stand up.
No, I can’t do that.
This was Shalltear’s punishment. And Shalltear’s failure was born of his own mistake. Resisting his desire to get away from her would be his punishment.
Ainz quashed his uncomfortable emotions.
He endured his squirming, practically snorting chair and couldn’t help but wonder, Peroroncino, how much of a perv did you make her?
“Now then…let’s get down to business. It seems like we frightened them pretty well.”
“I think it went perfectly, Lord Ainz.”
“Indeed—the looks on those lizardmen’s faces!”
Ainz smiled with relief at the guardians’ feedback. He hadn’t actually been able to read the changes in the lizardmen’s faces. They resembled humans more than reptiles, but their expressions were still completely different. “I see. Then I guess the demonstration of our power that Cocytus wanted as phase one was a success.” He breathed a relaxed sigh.
Of course, he would expect nothing less from a super-tier spell that could be used only four times a day. He’d gone all out and cast the Creation; if they hadn’t freaked out, it would have been depressing.
“Now then, Demiurge. How long will it take to compile the data about how much of the lake froze?”
“We’re currently working on it, but due to the ice covering a larger area than expected, progress is slow. If it’s all right with you, we’ll take a little more time.”
Ainz held out a hand to stop Demiurge from kneeling and then placed it near his mouth. It covered a wider area than expected, but I guess we can call it a successful experiment…?
The Creation was a super-tier spell that made it possible to change environmental effects. Players used it in Yggdrasil to stop the heat in a volcanic region or the chill in an icy region.
Sure, they could have exhibited their power without a super-tier spell. But he had cast it also as a test of scale—to see how far its effects would spread. In Yggdrasil, the Creation covered quite a large area. When he’d tried it inside Nazarick, it had covered the entire eighth level, but he didn’t know what kind of effect it would have on the outside world.
In Yggdrasil, it affected an area, but he wanted to know how big an “area” was in this world. If he cast it on a plain and it covered the entire thing, that would be overkill.
If he’d frozen the entire lake, that was too wide a range. Apparently he needed to exercise some caution with super tier spells.
“Okay, Aura. How’s the security net going?”
“I took the undead you lent me and put them on watch for a mile radius, but so far we haven’t caught much of anything. I’ve also sent out some of my magical beasts with detection skills in a two-mile radius, but I haven’t received reports of anyone suspicious.”
“I see… There’s a possibility someone would use the skill Perfect Unknowable on approach. What about that case?”
“No worries. I teamed up with Shalltear, and we’re using some undead with good detection skills as well.”
“Fantastic.”
Aura grinned in response to Ainz’s praise. Gone was the depressed look of before.
“We’re giving them a big enough opening—why hasn’t the enemy who used the World Item on Shalltear made a move?” With all eyes on him, he repeated the question again to no one in particular. “Why hasn’t there been any attempt to observe Nazarick or this place?”
“Could there be some sort of surveillance that the current security net can’t pick up? Perhaps using a World Item?”
Ainz cocked his head in response to Demiurge’s question. “…Momon considered that hypothesis, but…even if there were some sort of World Item surveillance, it wouldn’t work on him, since he possesses a World Item as well. It’d have to be *****-eye observations or another physical method… I guess there’s always magic, but I thought they’d switch…” The questions on the guardians’ faces made him realize he hadn’t said enough. “Hmm… How can I explain this? …There was one time we secretly held a precious-metal mine, and because we had monopolized it, market prices soared. Someone mounted a plot to take it from us using Ouroboros, one of the twenty.”
Ainz smiled. He’d been annoyed at the time, but thinking back on it now, it was a good memory—even though he’d gotten killed and dropped some pretty rare items.
“What?! How dare they rob the Supreme Beings of their land! I won’t allow it! Please give us orders immediately for its recapture!”
At Albedo’s shout, Ainz hurriedly looked over at her. All the guardians were hostile and murderous. Demiurge was usually calm and composed, but even his face was twisted into a frown. Glimpses of determination showed through Mare’s timid mien—screaming, I’ll kill you! Shalltear was his chair, so he couldn’t see her, but he sensed her body tensing through his seat.
“Calm down! This story ended a long time ago!” Ainz raised a hand and ordered them to relax. They regained some of their composure, but the tranquil surface hid roiling hot lava underneath. Ainz hurried along with his story, partly just to change the subject. “When they used Ouroboros, it made it so we couldn’t get into the world where the mine was. During that time they probably made a search and discovered it. By the time the seal broke and we were able to get back in, the mine had already been stolen.”
Most of the guild members had died in the reckless take-back operation that followed, but Ainz tactfully left that out.
“Okay, what I wanted to say was this: The world had been sealed, but if you were in possession of a World Item, you could still get in. Likewise, even if our enemy is observing us with a World Item, they shouldn’t be able to find us.”
While several voices claimed to understand, Ainz wondered whether that was really the case.
There was a very good chance, but there was nothing that made it absolute.
When another one of the twenty, Wu Xing Controlling Cycle, had been used, players in possession of World Items had received messages from the devs and items in apology. The apology read: “The changes to the world made with a World Item shouldn’t really apply to those of you holding one, but we realized it would put too heavy a burden on the system to keep only your data the way it is. Therefore, we are taking the liberty of making an exception and modifying it.”
So there was no guarantee they could avoid a World Item’s effects, although that time was an exception.
The World Item protecting Nazarick was a specific countermeasure for intelligence magic and the like. If it couldn’t prevent World Item surveillance, it was meaningless.
“That’s why I thought they’d try to get in touch with Momon, but…the only ones who approach him are mothers with newborn babies and adventurers.”
It was all people saying things like, “Please touch my baby so he’ll grow up strong,” “Please hit me so I can grow stronger as an adventurer,” or, “Please shake my hand.” Nobody requested a private conversation.
That was why Ainz was awaiting the enemy’s move with various apparent vulnerabilities in different places. That was one of the reasons he hadn’t given Cocytus a World Item—to make him a decoy to lure out the enemy. They were terrifying because they were unknown. If he could get them to show themselves even just once, he’d be able to take appropriate measures against them.
“Regarding that…will you forgive me for saying something foolish?”
“What is it, Albedo?”
“As you said, your plan is to reveal the unknown, but could it be that perhaps the reason the enemy stays away is that you are an unknown?”
Ack… “Th-that’s fine, Albedo. I’ve taken that into consideration.”
No, he most definitely had not. He’d been convinced that because he was a certain way, his enemy must have been, too. …What a stupid mistake. Has this been a giant failure from the very beginning, then?
“Then please excuse me. Also…”
He couldn’t sob, Miss Albedo, please just stop. Ainz felt like he’d taken an important test and realized after time was called that he’d missed a bubble and filled all the answers in off by one.
“You told them that you defeated Shalltear with an item…”
“Yes, that’s what I reported to the guild. I wanted to avoid Momon seeming so strong that people would be afraid of him. Apparently magic-sealing crystals are extremely rare, so I doubt someone would break one just to test it. That means the story that I unleashed a crystal—that I beat her with an item—is plausible, and people probably won’t be so on guard against me.”
“What you say is true. Against someone who believes crystals are very rare items, it’s an effective plan.”
The vagueness of her words nagged at him like a piece of food stuck between his molars, and he grew even more anxious.
“But would it work against someone who has multiple crystals like you, Lord Ainz?”
“…Huh? Ohhh, I see what you mean.” He pretended he understood, but really he wasn’t getting it.
What if there were someone who had a bunch of crystals? It’s still true that in this world they are extremely valuable items. Is Albedo worried that someone would break one to experiment? He didn’t think so.
His brain took the bad feeling he had and ran with it. He hated himself because he wanted to ask her to explain better, but he’d already gone and acted like he knew everything. More importantly, is it even okay for me to be the one deciding Nazarick’s plan of action? It’s like I thought I was navigating a ship, but we’re actually climbing a mountain…
He wanted to run away. As fast as he could.
He’d experienced now and then the weight of being a ruler—it was especially heavy when he failed—and he just couldn’t handle it. He let out a sob in his mind.
Of course he couldn’t run away. Now that he’d taken on the name Ainz Ooal Gown, he couldn’t leave behind the Great Tomb and the NPCs his guildmates had created—they were treasures. More than anything, he didn’t want to be a parent who abandoned his children.
I’m also worried you’ll betray, abandon, or give up on me. That’s why it’s so important for me to be the Ainz Ooal Gown you hope for and believe in.
That was why he made such a grand impression. He practiced in front of the mirror to master a pose he was confident projected “ruler.”
“It’s not an issue, but I understand your worry very well.” Then he looked around. “Albedo…please explain it to the other guardians.”
“Oh yes, my lord. If there were someone with multiple crystals like Lord Ainz…who was familiar with what powers crystals had, they would see through the lie. In other words, they would know that it wasn’t a crystal he used. I don’t know how seriously Shalltear fought, but the ones who used the World Item would regard Momon and her as equally strong. So perhaps they’ve decided that approaching Momon, the mysterious warrior who showed up suddenly in E-Rantel, is dangerous. I believe that might…have something to do with it.”
“…Albedo and the rest of you guardians, if that is the case, what do you think their next move will be?”
“If I may be so presumptuous… It’s possible that if they mean to oppose you, they’ll spread a rumor that you’re in league with the vampire, even if they have no way to back it up, in order to take you down. They probably aren’t happy that Momon is making a name for himself and growing more powerful.”
Urrgh, Ainz groaned in his mind.
One reason he’d gone to E-Rantel was to acquire information, but his other purpose was to make a name for his persona, Momon—and also, just a bit, to run away. Once he’d birthed a great hero, his plan was to reveal his true identity, take all the accumulated praise for Ainz Ooal Gown, and spread the name far and wide.
It would also hopefully have the effect of showing that the former infamous PK guild had turned over a new leaf; Ainz was helping people under the name Momon. But now all that might go up in smoke.
“Nnn, but Demiurge, wouldn’t it cause more damage to spread the rumor after Momon became famous?”
“Maybe, but it depends, Aura. If Lord Ainz has enough renown, the rumor might just be regarded as a lie to make him look bad. They need to get him before he becomes too big and experienced.”
“Magnificent, Demiurge.” Ainz gave a magnanimous nod to Demiurge as he bowed and acted as though he’d been thinking the same thing.
“Then let me ask you something else. Why hasn’t the enemy done that yet?”
Demiurge raised a finger. “First, they haven’t finished gathering information about Momon yet. If he really clashed with Shalltear head-on and won, they wouldn’t want to get on his bad side. They might even want to have him as a friend. Second—” He raised another finger. “What if their meeting with Shalltear was just random happenstance? They might have been on their way to do something else—a totally uninvolved third party.”
“There’s no way they just happened to meet her, Demiurge. That’d be a ridiculous coincidence…” But Ainz realized as he spoke that the possibility did exist.
He had concluded that the incident was an enemy attack aimed at Shalltear, or perhaps even at Nazarick, but she had been attacked not long after they had arrived. It seemed way too precise to single her out under those circumstances.
Am I jumping at shadows? Ainz narrowed his eyes—the red flames in his empty orbits.
In the end, his problem was inadequate information. He needed more help. He wanted greater power. The biggest issue is that we haven’t established an intelligence network. That was what he’d ordered Sebas and his crew to do, but there was only so much intelligence a few agents could gather on their own. At first he had been thinking it would be enough to just acquire a basic understanding of the world, but things had progressed to the point where that wouldn’t cut it anymore.
They couldn’t gather the information they needed as simple adventurers and the butler of a merchant. This was because the facts known to ordinary citizens were completely different from that of government executives and other influential people.
He also didn’t have anyone who could do the analysis to tell what was important and what wasn’t.
“Sheesh. One way or another, our biggest issue right now is lack of information. We have to be on guard against an enemy we can’t see, so we’re not moving fast enough…”
In response to Ainz’s grumbling, a glint heralding a brilliant plan appeared in Demiurge’s eye. “Then what about joining a country, Lord Ainz?”
After a silent moment, Albedo said, “Ohhh,” as if she understood.
Ainz followed her a beat later. “Oh, I see what you’re getting at, Demiurge.”
But the other three guardians cocked their heads like they didn’t get it. Then Aura meekly posed the question. “Lord Ainz, why would that be a good idea?”
Ainz was glad his face didn’t show emotion. “Sheesh… Mare, Shalltear, do either of you understand what Demiurge said?”
Both of them shook their heads.
“I see. Then there’s no helping it. Demiurge, tell them.”
“My lord, understood. Everyone, Lord Ainz has been concerned about the possible existence of a powerful, unknown enemy. If we were to encounter that powerful enemy, we’d need a way to settle things via negotiation.”
Teacher, I don’t understand. It was written on the faces of the three students, plus one.
Professor Demiurge, sensing his explanation was too difficult, began again after adjusting it to their level. “What if Lord Ainz were controlled by a World Item?”
“I’d kill the jerk controlling him!”
“…No, that’s not what I mean, Aura. Basically, if he were controlled, that could be an excuse, right? We know with absolute certainty that someone is out there controlling people with World Items, so that makes it fairly persuasive.”
“In other words,” Assistant Professor Albedo took over from Professor Demiurge, “we pretend to be under someone’s umbrella to create a justification for Nazarick’s actions going forward. If we say we had no choice because our country ordered us to do something, we can shift the blame to some extent, even if we have an enemy on the same level as us. If they wanted to avoid a head-on battle, they’d probably put up with it, right?”
“I see… Even if our enemy took offense at something we did, if we had a reason, we could pull in a third-party ally… Is that what you mean? I’d expect nothing less from Lord Ainz…”
Ainz reached out a hand to pet his chair’s head like an evil villain petting the Siamese cat in his lap. “The one who came up with this plan wasn’t me—it was Demiurge. If you want to praise someone, you should probably praise him.”
“No, that’s not true. It seemed you had already reached the same conclusion.”
“Oh, uh, hrm. Well, I don’t mean to take credit for your idea. Hmm. Besides, joining a country would make gathering information easier as well.” A nation would probably already have the intelligence network Ainz was frantically trying to build, so inserting someone from Nazarick into that network would get them much further than they were now. Ainz’s remark had been an indirect request for feedback from his two wise advisers as to whether such a plan would alleviate his earlier concerns as well, and it caused Demiurge to smile warmly.
“It’s just as you say.”
Ainz could tell that behind his words lurked the sentiment, As expected, you already knew?
“Ohh, aha. Brilliant as always, Lord Ainz, thinking so far ahead… I see… So the lower life-forms can be of some use to us after all.” Following Albedo’s comment, all the guardians, including his chair Shalltear, radiated pure sparkling admiration at him.
Ainz felt extremely awkward, but at least he’d gotten the pair’s approval. He was relieved he wasn’t wrong.
“Then…let’s infiltrate. Which country?”
“The countries in the area are the kingdom, the empire, and the theocracy, correct?”
“Wh-what about a country farther away? The council state or the Sacred Kingdom?”
“I’d like to avoid the more distant countries. And for the time being, while we’re still underinformed, I’d like to steer clear of the theocracy. So the kingdom or the empire… From Sebas’s reports, the kingdom doesn’t seem too appealing, but…I guess we have to think about it. Now then—” He prepared to change the topic and gestured at the mirror. “We’ve given the lizardmen some time. Allow me to make sure they aren’t doing anything that might surprise us.”
A bird’s-eye view of the lizardman village gradually appeared in the Mirror of Remote Viewing. Little specks were running around inside.
Ainz moved his hand, changing the scenery visible in the mirror.
First, naturally, he zoomed in.
That made it clear that the lizardmen were frantically preparing for war.
“Wasted effort…,” Demiurge murmured at them gently.
Okay, where are you? They all look the same… Ainz frowned at the image, trying to find the six from before. Oh! Here’s one in armor. Is this the guy who threw the rock? And here’s the one with the great sword. It really is hard to tell the difference between them. It’s easy if they’re different colors or equipped in different ways…but ah, that one with the arm…found him.
After observing, he restlessly moved the viewpoint around as if he didn’t know what else to do. “…The white one and the one with the magic weapon aren’t here!”
“Errr, what was his name? Zaryusu?”
“Oh yeah. That was it.”
When Aura chimed in, he remembered the lizardman who had come to the negotiations.
“He’s probably in his house.”
“Maybe.”
The Mirror of Remote Viewing couldn’t see inside a house—not normally.
“Demiurge, the Infinity Haversack.”
“Understood.” Demiurge bowed once, took the shoulder bag on the table that had been moved into the corner of the room, and politely handed it to Ainz. Ainz took out a scroll.
Then he cast a spell with it.
The spell created a sense organ that could see the invisible and insubstantial. It couldn’t penetrate a magic barrier if there was one, but it could get through any regular wall, no matter how thick. If for some reason it couldn’t, that would prove that they were up against an opponent who didn’t let their guard down.
By linking it with the Mirror of Remote Viewing, he allowed the guardians to see what he was seeing and then moved the eyeball-like organ floating in the air.
“Let’s try this house first.” He haphazardly chose a shabby-looking house, the nearest one, and sent the sense organ inside. Even though the interior of the house was dark, it looked like broad daylight.
Inside, the white one was pinned down with her tail up, and the black one was mounted on top of her.
The onlookers were bewildered.
At first, he didn’t know what they were doing. Then, he didn’t understand why they were doing it.
Ainz moved the sense organ back outside without a word.
“…”
Full of misery, Ainz put his hands to his head.
The guardians standing by exchanged glances, not knowing what to say.
“…An absolutely disgusting bunch, they are. Cocytus is about to attack them and that’s what they’re doing?”
“You’re right, exactly right.”
“Uh, er, u-umm…”
“It’s just as you say, Demiurge. We should punish them!”
“I’m jealous…”
Ainz raised a hand, and the guardians’ comments stopped. “…Well, they’re about to die. I saw in a movie that at times like this, species’ preservation instincts kick in or something.” He nodded as if to approve of his own opinion.
“Just as you say, my lord.”
“That much should be permitted, indeed.”
“Quite right, quite right!”
“Uh, er, u-umm…”
“I wish you would do that to me…”
“…Shut up, you guys.”
The guardians all closed their mouths, and Ainz sighed.
“…Man, I feel kinda demotivated. Well, there’s probably no one in the village we need to watch out for anymore. But don’t drop your guard! They could be coming this way! Aura…” Ainz froze and looked at the two children.
Shit! What have I done? They aren’t old enough to have had sex education— no, it’s still too early! He had the feeling this was how a father felt when the family was watching TV together and a hot love scene came on. What do the mothers and fathers of the world say when their children ask how babies are made? This is bad! How could I do this to BubblingTeapot’s two… Phew, well, it’s no problem. Albedo’s no good. Demiurge could… explain the medical science of it… I’ll make him a candidate. Shalltear…might actually not be so bad? Anyhow, we can figure it out another day.
Shelving the issue for the time being, Ainz cleared his throat. “Ahem. If the security net catches anyone, all the guardians and I will move out.”
In the event a Yggdrasil player showed up, he wasn’t planning on keeping his promise of staying out of the lizardman village. If the tribes couldn’t be made allies, he would crush them with all his might to prevent an intelligence leak—even if he had to bring out the big guns from level eight.
He shook off the guilt of breaking his promise with Cocytus. For the most important things, a fib was sometimes expedient.
“Okay, when it’s time for the show, let’s kick back and enjoy Cocytus’s battle.”
2
Four hours went by in the blink of an eye.
The ice on the marsh had melted, and the warriors were gathered by the main gate. Not many had lived through the fierce battle of the previous day to participate in this one.
In total, they were 316.
The reason only warriors were participating was because Shasuryu had said, “There aren’t a lot of enemies, so if we go out there with too many men, we’ll just get in one another’s way.”
At a glance it seemed like a legitimate reason, but of course, the truth was something else.
Zaryusu gazed at the gathered lizardman warriors from a slightly removed position. Their bodies were painted with the crests that proved the ancestral spirits had descended among them, and the willpower on their faces could cut like a knife. It didn’t seem like anyone had defeat on their minds.
Lizardmen nearby cheered for the warriors. Among them, there were many who couldn’t hide their fears.
Zaryusu struggled to fake confidence so his internal hesitation wouldn’t show, so the others wouldn’t realize this battle was an offering to the King of Death.
This fight was for the King of Death to show off his strength to the lizardmen, to obliterate their will to resist. They had no chance of victory from the start, and behind Shasuryu’s earlier statement was the desire to keep the victims to a minimum.
Zaryusu looked away from the lizardmen and shot a penetrating glare at the enemy side. The skeletons hadn’t taken a single step from their previous positions. He couldn’t see the monster Cocytus among them. He can’t just be one of these skeletons, can he? This is the King of Death’s aide. He won’t be any ordinary monster. He was sure he would feel it all the way to the tip of his tail when he laid eyes on him.
From behind Zaryusu, as he sank into his gloom, came the signature splashing sound of someone heavy wading through the marsh. “Yo, Zaryusu!” Zenbel called out to him in his usual carefree voice. Not a thing was different about him, even though they were about to go to their deaths.
“Morale is awesome, huh?”
“Yeah. It’ll be great if they can maintain it when they face that Cocytus monster…”
“Right? Oh! Is it already time?”
Shasuryu was at the gate. All the lizardmen turned their attention to him and the two swamp elementals next to him.
Crusch wasn’t there—she was pouring magical energy into the swamp elemental summoning. Between that and the long term–effect defensive spells she’d cast on Zaryusu, she probably wouldn’t be able to move when she was done, she’d used so much magical energy. In fact, she’d told him that when the two of them had left the house—that she probably wouldn’t see him again because she’d be passed out from using so much energy.
Feeling lonely with no one next to him, Zaryusu looked in the direction where he thought Crusch would be. Her expression when they had parted was tearing up his heart.
“Warriors! We march!” Shasuryu’s call to boost their fighting spirit sent the morale of the lizardmen in the area soaring. They were full of excitement.
I have to get back to the warriors. Zaryusu put a lid on the thoughts in his mind.
The lizardmen walked slowly forth with Shasuryu and the two swamp elementals out in front. They were leaving the village so that it wouldn’t get caught up in the fight. Zaryusu and Zenbel walked at the rear.
Zaryusu suddenly turned to look back. Those shabby mud walls, the worried lizardmen watching, and—
He breathed a faint sigh, cleared everything from his mind, and walked on—without murmuring the name of the female on the tip of his tongue.
The lizardmen walked through the marsh and took up a position midway between the village and the enemy skeletons.
They weren’t thinking about ranks. They were just scattered around, waiting for the fight to begin. At most, they’d have each tribe’s chief, Zaryusu, and the two elementals out front. The enemy had probably been waiting for Zaryusu and company to arrive. The skeletons banged on their shields and stomped the ground. If the timing had been off, it would have just been noise, but the undead transformed the racket into a harmonious sound. It was so magnificent that anywhere but here it would have been worthy of applause.
While the sound attracted all the lizardmen’s attention, trees behind the skeletons in the forest started falling over.
There was only one reason huge trees with thick trunks like that would fall: Someone was cutting them down. A commotion went through the lizardmen.
Since they couldn’t see anyone, it was possible to imagine that multiple people were working together to cut them down. But the trees were crashing at intervals too precise for that to be true. It might have been possible, considering the perfectly ordered command of the undead they’d witnessed before, but none of the lizardmen thought so.
A strange feeling passed through their minds—that it was the work of a single actor.
What was strangest of all was that they couldn’t hear a blade hitting the tree trunks until right before the trees collapsed. In other words, impossible as it might seem, someone incredibly strong must have been felling the thick trees with a single swing.
Cutting a huge tree in two… How much arm strength and what kind of blade would one need to do such a thing?
The sound of the falling trees combined with the rhythm of the skeletons banging their shields and slowly approached the lizardmen.
The defenders were shaken. Of course they were. There wasn’t anyone who wouldn’t be shaken under those circumstances. Even Zenbel, Zaryusu, and Shasuryu, who had braced themselves, were shaken—they were just skillfully hiding it.
Eventually the figure cutting through the forest came into view. At the same time, the skeletons’ banging stopped.
In the unnatural silence was a mass of polished light blue. It sparkled so intensely it made one wonder how much light it would reflect if the sky weren’t covered by that thick cloud. The being looked like an eight-foot-tall bipedal insect. If the face of an ant and a praying mantis were combined and then demonically warped, it would probably look like this. The hard exoskeleton encasing his body was wrapped in a chill that sparkled like diamond dust. From his sturdy tail that was more than double his height sprouted countless spikes. His powerful lower jaws could surely sever a human arm with no trouble. His four arms featured sharp claws and were equipped with dazzling vambraces. From his neck hung a golden disk, and he wore silver anklets.
The appearance of an absolute power on par with the King of Death.
So that’s Cocytus? Zaryusu’s heart pounded, and at some point his breath had turned ragged.
None of the lizardmen had anything to say. Their eyes were drawn to the being who had shown himself, and they couldn’t tear them away—not even if they were scared.
Without realizing it, they began to retreat. These lizardmen who had boosted their morale before coming, and Zaryusu and company, who had braced themselves for this moment—they all quailed before the appearance of this overwhelmingly powerful opponent.
I get that the King of Death and his entourage weren’t going to fight us. But I had no idea how terrifying a powerful opponent who is ready to fight could be…
The monster they were up against was enough to make even Zaryusu want to run away, and he had a spell on him that should have canceled out fear. It was a miracle that the lizardmen who hadn’t received spells weren’t scrambling to flee.
Cocytus advanced toward them with slow steps.
His imposing figure entered the marsh and passed among the skeletons…
When he’d approached to about thirty yards from the lizardmen, he stopped. Then he moved the insect head on top of his long, thin neck. As if he was looking for someone.
Zaryusu felt the gaze stop for a moment on him.
“NOW THEN, LORD AINZ IS WATCHING. PLEASE SHOW ME YOUR SPIRIT. BUT FIRST, ICE PILLAR.”
He repeated the spell, and about twenty yards away, between him and the lizardmen, two pillars of ice ****** up out of the water.
“IT MAY BE RUDE TO YOU WARRIORS WHO CAME HERE PREPARED, BUT ALLOW ME TO TELL YOU SOMETHING: ACROSS THAT LINE IS DEATH. IF YOU INSIST ON ADVANCING PAST IT, KNOW THAT DEATH AWAITS YOU.” Cocytus crossed two of his arms; it was a posture that said he made the rules.
“Hey, he’s actually a pretty nice guy!”
Zaryusu nodded as if agreeing with Zenbel’s outburst. Then he took a step forward. Following him, Zenbel, Shasuryu, and the other two chiefs took a step.
Shasuryu turned around and called out to the warriors who were about to follow them. “You guys can stay there… No, go back to the village. Otherwise you’ll probably get mixed up in this and be killed.”
“Hey, let us fight with you! We are scared…but still!”
“It’s not cowardly to pull out. It’s important to live!”
“Then why—?”
“Some lizardmen can’t withdraw. That’s just the way it is. How could a chief let his tribe get conquered without putting up a fight?”
“But, Chief, we’ll fight, too!”
“Hold up! Young fellows, go home. Leave the rest to us old fogies!” The lizardmen who had pushed their way to the front were plenty old but still far too young to be called elderly. There were about fifty-seven of them. When the others saw their expressions, they didn’t know what to say.
If there had been emotions like determination or resignation on their faces, the younger ones might have offered to accompany them, but their expressions contained a wish—the wish that those younger than them would survive and enjoy life.
The warriors, who had no words, moved off to the rear, frustrated.
Shasuryu turned back to Cocytus. “Didn’t mean to keep you waiting, Cocytus.”
Cocytus reached out an arm and curled one of his awfully long, thin fingers. Come at me!
In response, Shasuryu roared, “Chaaaaarge!”
“Rrrraaaaaaagh!” With a roar from the bottom of their hearts, the determined lizardmen raced across the marsh toward Cocytus.
Cocytus eyed the charging lizardmen coldly. “IT’S A SHAME, WARRIORS, BUT FIRST ALLOW ME TO THIN YOU OUT A BIT.” It was inconceivable that he would lose, even if they all reached him. Cocytus just judged that he should be selective.
Cocytus, as a warrior, would have rather shown respect and waited until they were in attack range to fight them. But under the circumstances (he was receiving more favor than he deserved), allowing the rabble to cross swords with a guardian of the Great Tomb of Nazarick would be disrespectful to the one watching.
Cocytus unleashed his sealed aura.
It was an ability from his knight of Niflheim class: Frost Aura. The skill slightly inhibited the user’s opponents’ movement while dealing extreme chill damage. If he had put it on full blast, the lizardmen watching the battle would have been in range, but he didn’t want to do that.
He held back the power.
Shorter range, less damage.
“THIS SEEMS ABOUT RIGHT.” An arctic frost spread out from Cocytus to cover an area with a radius of about twenty-five yards. The dramatic change in temperature caused the atmosphere to rumble.
“…OKAY. THAT’S PROBABLY ENOUGH.”
He suppressed his aura.
It lasted almost no time; the raging cold vanished as if it had never been there. But it definitely hadn’t been a dream or an illusion. The proof was the fifty-seven lizardman bodies littering the marsh.
Only five could still move—the strongest five. With neither fear nor hesitation at the death of their comrades or Cocytus’s power, they leaped into action at once.
A rock flew through the air. The first one to rush forward was the lizardman in armor. Two others followed him. The two swamp elementals (their bodies cracked from the chill) weren’t as nimble and moved slowly behind them. The last lizardman cast a spell.
That stone, the first attack, had been aimed at Cocytus’s neck, but it was pointless because—“ALL GUARDIANS HAVE RESISTANCE TO PROJECTILE WEAPONS VIA AN ITEM OR WHATNOT.” The rock was deflected as if it had hit an invisible shield.
The next challenger, the one running out in front, was the Razor Tail chief wearing one of the Four Great Treasures: White Dragon Bone. It was hard enough to repel Zaryusu’s Frost Pain and the strongest armor available to the lizardmen.
Facing him, Cocytus drew a sword out of the air, as if he’d been holding it secretly in space. It was an ōdachi, a sword with a blade easily six feet long called Imperial Sword Zanshin. It was the keenest weapon of the twenty-one in his possession.
And now he swung it at the oncoming lizardman.
His swordsmanship was so sharp it practically cut the air itself, and the atmosphere’s scream—a musical tone—echoed throughout the area. If it weren’t for the situation, it would have been a pleasantly serene sound.
The moment after, the chief, armor and all, was sliced vertically in two, and the two halves separated and collapsed into the marsh.
Cocytus had cut through the lizardmen’s strongest armor without putting even a nick in Imperial Sword Zanshin.
Without letting the death before their eyes faze them, the next two lizardmen split, one left, one right, and raised their weapons.
“Yaaaagh!” From the right, Zenbel’s spear hand stabbed toward Cocytus’s face with the power of Natural Iron Weapon and Iron Skin.
“Waaaagh!” From the left, Frost Pain stabbed toward his abdomen.
The attacks were based on the logic that in close combat it was difficult to use long weapons.
Of course, that went for only ordinary combatants.
Cocytus made a subtle dodge and took Zenbel’s arm from the side with the middle of his blade. He moved with the long sword exactly as if it were part of his body.
Iron Skin made Zenbel’s skin hard as steel, but Imperial Sword Zanshin’s sharpness had already been proven on White Dragon Bone. The blade bit smoothly into his arm and continued in a graceful motion to the water’s surface, easily severing the limb.
“Gahhhh!”
As blood spurted from Zenbel’s stump of a right arm, Cocytus caught Frost Pain in his other hand.
“HMM, AHA. IT’S NOT A BAD SWORD, BUT…”
“Tch!” Giving up on pulling Frost Pain free (it wouldn’t budge), Zaryusu unleashed a kick at Cocytus’s knee. Cocytus didn’t even attempt to avoid it, and a sharp pain ran through Zaryusu’s foot. It was as if he’d kicked a wall harder than steel with all his might.
“Overspell: Mass Slight Cure Wounds!” In exchange for a vast amount of magical energy, Shasuryu was able to force a spell from an elite tier he would never normally be able to use and heal everyone.
“HRM…” Cocytus had never seen this magical boost before, and he observed Shasuryu with great interest.
The two swamp elementals came running in to block his view. They stood between him and Zenbel, whose severed arm was on the mend thanks to the healing spell, and tried to attack with their tentacle-like arms. Before their attacks could connect, however, Cocytus slashed through the both of them, annoyed.
As the swamp elementals disintegrated into lumps of mud, Zaryusu punched Cocytus’s compound eyes and stomach and chest equivalents. Of course, the one who got hurt was him. He was already bleeding from the broken skin on his hand.
“PESKY ONE, AREN’T YOU?” Cocytus swung his spiked tail around and struck Zaryusu hard in the chest.
“Guh-hagh!” With a cracking sound, Zaryusu’s body soared like a ball hit with a bat and crashed into the marsh. After rolling several times through the mud, he finally stopped, but the intense pain in his chest and the blood he was coughing up made it hard to breathe.
Had the broken bones in his chest punctured his lungs? He tried to inhale, but the air wouldn’t come. It was like being underwater. The warm fluid running down his throat made him nauseous. When he looked at his chest, he saw multiple wounds like knife gouges and a gush of blood flowing from them. I’m this bad after just one hit…?
Desperately struggling to breathe, Zaryusu glared at Cocytus with eyes that still had fight in them to see if a follow up attack was coming.
“YOU STILL HAVE THE WILL TO FIGHT? THEN I’LL GIVE THIS BACK.” He tossed Frost Pain carelessly near Zaryusu, who was still in the mud, and then ignored him to face the others.
Although his arm had grown back, Zenbel had taken a battering, and Shasuryu cast a healing spell on him.
Another rock hurtled toward Cocytus as if to say, I won’t let you near them! But it ricocheted uselessly.
“HOW ANNOYING,” Cocytus mumbled and casually ****** his hand toward the Small Fang chief. “PIERCING ICICLE.” He launched dozens of sharp icicles the size of human arms from across a wide area.
The icicles had no trouble skewering the sole lizardman being targeted. One in the chest, two in his abdomen, one in his right thigh. They all went clear through him.
The Small Fang chief, the most talented lizardman ranger, swayed, then collapsed into the marsh, like a marionette whose strings had been cut, and died.
“Waaaagh!”
“Overspell: Mass Slight Cure Wounds!”
Zenbel charged, and Shasuryu used the healing spell again. Zenbel was trying to buy time for Zaryusu’s wounds to heal.
He knew it was reckless—all his abilities were powerless in the face of Cocytus’s—but he advanced with zero hesitation.
When Zenbel came in range, Cocytus casually swung Imperial Sword Zanshin at him.
The blow came faster than Zenbel could see.
Far faster than he was nimble and—
—the sword had no trouble cutting through his flesh.
Zenbel’s headless body gushed a fountain of blood and crumpled into the marsh with a splash. His head followed a split second later.
“…NOW THEN, TWO LEFT? I HEARD ABOUT YOU FROM LORD AINZ, AND HERE YOU ARE, THE LAST SURVIVORS.” Cocytus, who hadn’t moved one step from his position when the battle started, gazed at the two remaining lizardmen and brandished his katana. Neither blood nor fat clung to the smoky-white blade. It was beautiful, as if everything had come off in that one stroke.
Zaryusu had recovered enough energy to stand, and Shasuryu had drawn his great sword. They faced Cocytus between them. Zaryusu scooped some of the still-pouring blood from his chest and smeared it on his face. It looked like one of the patterns to call down ancestral spirits.
“Zaryusu, how are your wounds?”
“Bad. There’s still a dull pain, but I can swing my sword a few times.”
“I see… Well, that’s enough. Honestly, I’m pretty much out of magic. If I’m not careful, I might pass out,” Shasuryu said with a kachi-kachi noise of his teeth that could have passed for laughter.
In response, Zaryusu changed his expression slightly. “Oh… So you’re killing yourself, too.” Smiling faintly, he exhaled and relaxed his shoulders. He let his sword hand droop.
A sharp pain streaked outward from his chest, but he did his best to ignore it.
He wasn’t about to give up before this was truly over—he was going to keep swinging his sword.
He knew full well they couldn’t win.
There wasn’t anything he could do about the defeat they’d been dealt. Still, he couldn’t just accept it.
Why? Because he’d lied to a lot of souls, told them that winning was possible. There were lizardmen who believed that big, fat lie, so there was no way he could accept this defeat.
To the very last second, with all my might—
“I will keep wielding this sword!” Zaryusu’s roar echoed throughout the area.
The fangs in Cocytus’s jaw closed with a click. “THAT’S A GOOD ROAR…” He must have smiled. And it wasn’t the sneering smirk of the strong at the weak but a smile at an equal, a warrior.
“Good, Zaryusu. Just like that. Let’s fight this till the very end!” Shasuryu smiled. “Now then, sorry to have kept you waiting, Sir Cocytus.”
Cocytus shrugged in response. “I DON’T MIND AT ALL. I’M NOT SO BOORISH THAT I’D INTERRUPT A FAREWELL BETWEEN BROTHERS. ARE YOU READ— NO, EXCUSE ME. YOU’VE BEEN READY FROM THE BEGINNING, HAVEN’T YOU?”
As Zaryusu and Shasuryu took a solid step forward, Cocytus brandished Imperial Sword Zanshin and spoke. “LET’S HAVE YOUR NAMES.”
“Shasuryu Shasha!”
“Zaryusu Shasha!”
“…I’LL MAKE A NOTE OF YOU AS WARRIORS. AND ALLOW ME TO APOLOGIZE. NORMALLY I HOLD A WEAPON IN EACH OF MY ARMS, BUT…AND I DON’T SAY THIS WITH DISDAIN, BUT…YOU
JUST AREN’T STRONG ENOUGH FOR ME TO DRAW THEM ALL.”
“Isn’t that just too bad!”
“Indeed. Let’s do this!”
The two lizardmen dashed at Cocytus. The splashing echoed across the marsh.
Cocytus cocked his head slightly at their staggered timing. They wouldn’t both enter the range of his sword at the same time; Shasuryu would arrive first. They must have a plan, he thought and waited for them with a vague sense of excitement.
The first one to enter his range would be Shasuryu. Cocytus watched to see what he would do.
Right at the very edge of where Cocytus’s blade would reach, Shasuryu stopped and—“Earth Bind!”—cast a spell.
Countless chains of mud reached out toward Cocytus. At the same time, Zaryusu ran for all he was worth. He hid Frost Pain behind his back so his range couldn’t be guessed.
Shasuryu’s comment about being “out of magic” had been nothing more than a bluff to trick Cocytus. If he fell for it, he might get caught in the chains and stabbed by the one running up from behind.
No matter how hard his exoskeleton is, the tip of my sword should penetrate if I put all my strength into it. With that sentiment fueling his charge, the attack of a man who had abandoned defense would be quite powerful.
YOU MUST HAVE A LOT OF CONFIDENCE IN THAT SWORD. Cocytus understood that sentiment well. He, too, felt strongly about all his weapons. Among them, he had particularly strong feelings for the sword he’d drawn this time, a weapon used by his creator. He was showing them the utmost respect by facing them with Imperial Sword Zanshin, even if it resulted in an even more overwhelming power disparity.
But they had misunderstood one thing. They were fighting Cocytus, guardian of the fifth level of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
“…YOUR LEVEL IS TOO INFERIOR FOR YOUR SPELLS TO GET PAST MY DEFENSES.”
Just before the mud chains touched Cocytus, they were repelled and fell back into the marsh as plain mud. At that low level, they couldn’t penetrate Cocytus’s magic defenses.
“Icy Burst!”
Along with the shout from the rear, white frost swirled around Cocytus, enveloping the area.
A POINTLESS EFFORT.
Cocytus, with his perfect resistance to chill, took the freezing assault as a gentle breeze and waited for Zaryusu or Shasuryu to spring into his range.
About a breath later, the chance he’d been waiting for appeared. But he hesitated for just a moment. WILL CUTTING OFF HIS HEAD BE ENOUGH TO STOP HIM?
Zaryusu had abandoned all defense, so Cocytus didn’t think so. The sight of the headless body charging on appeared in his mind. SO SLICE OFF HIS ARM FIRST, AND THEN CUT OFF HIS HEAD? NO, THAT’S UNCIVILIZED. I’LL JUST SLAY HIM WITH ONE BLOW.
Zaryusu’s full-speed sprint, with no thought for defense, was hopelessly slow from Cocytus’s point of view.
In the white haze, the black figure of Zaryusu came dimly into view. Cocytus reached out and deftly grabbed Frost Pain’s blade, just like before.
Was the reason he didn’t feel any chill in his fingers because Zaryusu had belatedly realized it didn’t work on him?
Doubt ran through his mind at how easy it had been to stop the charge, despite the speed—but only for a second. He didn’t need to think too hard, because one swing of Imperial Sword Zanshin would end this.
Then there would be only one left.
SO IT WAS A CHARGE WITH NO PLAN… Cocytus went to cut Zaryusu down, a bit disappointed, when he changed his mind. AHA…!
“Rrrrrraaaaaagh!” Through the cold hovering in the area, along with the roar, a great sword came down. Shasuryu’s strike had enough momentum to whip up a wind to blow away the chill.
Earth Bind, Zaryusu’s charge, and Icy Burst had all been feints.
Stabs from Frost Pain were worth being on guard against, but Shasuryu’s overhead swing would probably deal more damage. Cocytus had no doubt that that was their main attack. However—
“IF YOU WANT TO SNEAK ATTACK, YOU HAVE TO DO IT QUIETLY.”
With the splash of their footfalls plainly audible, it couldn’t possibly be a sneak attack. WAS THERE EVEN ANY POINT IN TAKING CHILL DAMAGE TO ATTEMPT THAT? Cocytus wondered. OR ARE THEY JUST FLAILING?
But it was true that they’d entered his range.
AS LONG AS I’M HOLDING HIS ONLY WEAPON, ZARYUSU IS NO ENEMY. ALL THAT CHANGES IS THE ORDER IN WHICH I’LL KILL THEM, thought Cocytus, and he swung his sword.
One blow.
He sliced Shasuryu, great sword and all, right in half. Before his corpse even hit the marsh, he’d brought his katana back around to cut down Zaryusu and—
—just then, Cocytus’s fingers slipped on Zaryusu’s blade. Taken aback, he checked them. WHY IS THE SWORD PUSHING TOWARD ME? In the midst of the white frost, he saw something red on both his fingers and the blade. He instantaneously figured out what had caused the slip.
BLOOD?
That was confusing.
He wondered when it had gotten there—and understood when he saw Zaryusu’s face through the frost.
He hadn’t been painting a pattern when he’d smeared the blood on his face. He’d gathered the blood to slather it on the blade of his sword.
Icy Burst hadn’t been to deal damage to Cocytus or to conceal Shasuryu but to hide the fact that the blade had blood on it. That was why Zaryusu had held the sword behind his back as well.
When Cocytus had stopped Zaryusu’s attack before, he’d grabbed the blade of his sword. Zaryusu had remembered that and made this move on the off chance Cocytus would do the same thing again.
Then an electric shock zapped through Cocytus’s brain. THAT TIME! WHEN I THOUGHT HE WAS RUSHING AT ME AWFULLY SLOWLY! AHA! TO THINK HE BLOODIED THE BLADE FOR AN INGENIOUS PLAN TO MAKE IT SLIP AND RUN ME THROUGH, WHICH WOULDN’T WORK MORE THAN ONCE. IN ORDER TO CREATE A DEFINITE CHANCE, HE HELD BACK TO MAKE ME THINK IT WOULD BE EASY TO GRAB THE SWORD.
The blade slipped closer and closer to his light-blue body. Not even Cocytus could withstand Zaryusu pushing for all he was worth with his full body weight—not when he was using only two fingers now, slipping on the blood.
If he’d grabbed it at more of a distance, he might have had more options, but at this close range, he did not.
Cocytus was so moved he shivered.
Even leaving everything to chance, this attack had won all its various bets. More than anything, though, if Shasuryu hadn’t been around, this situation couldn’t have occurred.
Shasuryu probably hadn’t understood what Zaryusu was trying to do, but he had believed in him as his older brother and sacrificed his life. He’d made that pointless sneak attack and war cry to draw attention from his little brother for even just a moment.
Just one moment.
Literally the time it took to blink… As Frost Pain approached with Zaryusu’s all behind it, Cocytus clacked his lower jaws together. “WONDERFUL.”
Then the sword stabbed at Cocytus—and glanced off without leaving so much as a scratch on his sparkling cerulean body.
It was the inevitable outcome born of the unbridgeable gap in ability between the lizardman and an elite NPC of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
“SORRY, I HAVE A SKILL THAT MAKES ME TEMPORARILY IMMUNE TO ALL WEAK MAGIC WEAPONS. AS LONG AS IT’S ACTIVATED, YOUR ATTACKS ARE MEANINGLESS.”
Personally, Cocytus would have gladly sustained an injury out of respect for the warrior who made such a splendid attack, but as a guardian, there was no way he could do that with a Supreme Being watching.
Cocytus intentionally took a single step back. It caused mud to spatter and soil his beautiful blue body.
A one-step retreat.
It didn’t mean anything. Nothing happened because of it. Zaryusu was definitely going to die, and Cocytus’s victory was absolute.
But it was a token of praise from the absolutely strong, Cocytus, to the helplessly weak, Zaryusu.
Zaryusu smiled a pure smile reserved for those who knew their fate and had done everything they could to avoid it as Cocytus swung Imperial Sword Zanshin.
3
“That was some magnificent fighting.” Ainz praised Cocytus, who was bowed before him on one knee.
“THANK YOU.”
“That said, I think you know already, but this time you gave them the stick. From now on, you need to give them carrots. We mustn’t rule through fear.”
“UNDERSTOOD.”
Ainz nodded and turned to the other guardians in the room. “Good. Listen to me, guardians. As I said in the Throne Room, I’m leaving the governing of the lizardmen completely up to Cocytus. If he requests support from you, give him whatever he requires. Cocytus, I’d like for you to instill in the lizardmen a loyalty to Nazarick…to give them a special education… But I’ll leave the details up to you. Let me know if you need Wings of Ascension or any other specific item. I could lend you a Power Suit or something for a time as well.”
In Yggdrasil, it was possible for players to change their race mid-game, but not whenever they wanted. There were various requirements that had to be met first, and it was impossible to change back afterward.
One of the requirements was an item. For example, to change into an elder lich, one needed a Book of the Dead. To change into an imp, one needed a Seed of Corruption. The Wings of Ascension Ainz mentioned were for becoming an angel.
Ainz thought that perhaps it was possible to be reborn as a grotesque in this world as well and couldn’t help voicing that unintentionally.
“THANK YOU, I WILL LET YOU KNOW. ALSO, LORD AINZ. HOW WILL THOSE LIZARDMEN BE DISPOSED OF?”
“Which?”
“OH, THE ONES CALLED ZARYUSU AND SHASURYU.”
The ones who lasted till the end, huh? Their corpses should still be in the marsh, but what about it? “Oh. Should we recover the bodies and try using them as fodder for undead creation that doesn’t use my skills?”
“I FEEL THAT WOULD BE REGRETTABLE…”
“Hmm, what do you mean? Are they that valuable?”
From what Ainz was able to tell watching on the Mirror of Remote Viewing, there hadn’t been anything noteworthy about them—Cocytus had won a crushing victory.
“…IT’S TRUE THEY WERE WEAK. BUT I SAW THE SPARK OF A WARRIOR IN THEM, IN HOW THEY DIDN’T FEAR MY POWER. I THINK IT WOULD BE A WASTE TO USE THEM AS FODDER. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THEY MIGHT BECOME STRONGER THAN WE COULD IMAGINE. AND I DON’T THINK YOU’VE PERFORMED RESURRECTION EXPERIMENTS YET. HOW ABOUT USING THEM FOR THAT?”
Could it be that he’s taken a liking to those reptiles?
Honestly, Ainz didn’t get what “spark of a warrior” meant. There was that word bloodlust that came up a lot in manga and books, but like when he warned Narberal, he didn’t really understand. In the same way, empathy between warriors made no sense to him.
That was because although his current self was quite different, he was originally just a normal member of society. It was probably dangerous for the average citizen of Japan to feel an affinity for concepts like a thirst for battle and the “spark of a warrior.” He would have understood the spark of a brilliant salesman better, albeit still vaguely.
“I see… A waste, huh?”
Cocytus answered in the affirmative, but Ainz still wondered, Even if it’s a waste…who cares? But if he really thought about it, Cocytus sounded absolutely right.
He did want to do resurrection experiments at some point. There was plenty for Nazarick to gain from it, from Ainz’s point of view. And unlike the incoherent Cocytus in the Throne Room, now he was making a proposal with the pros accurately presented. If this was proof of progress, he’d passed this exercise with flying colors.
Ainz thought for a moment and remembered that he had excellent subordinates. There they were, lined up in postures befitting their status—silent, straight, and stock-still.
“Albedo, let’s hear your opinion.”
“Things should be as you wish, Lord Ainz.”
“…Demiurge, what do you think?”
“I believe what you say is most correct, Lord Ainz.”
“……Shalltear, how about you?”
“The same as Demiurge. I defer to your judgment.”
“………Aura.”
“My lord. I agree with everyone else.”
“…………Mare.”
“U-u-uh, yes, sir. Me, too.”
These aren’t answers. Ainz racked his brain.
After thinking over various things, he arrived at the conclusion that this matter must just not be a very big issue for the guardians. In other words, they must have decided that there weren’t any huge pros or cons either way.
Of course, that opinion could be a problem depending on where they were coming from. It was the issue of how far you could trust someone saying, It’s not a lot of money, if they thought of a hundred million yen as peanuts—basically, a gap in values.
There was no point in asking… So does that mean it’s fine if I resurrect them? I keep thinking I’ve thought things through before acting, but I’ve been making a lot of mistakes lately… Since he had no choice, he considered the pros and cons himself.
“…So we’ve conquered the lizardman village. Is there someone representing them? Any way of organizing themselves?”
“YES, THERE IS A REPRESENTATIVE.”
“Oh? What’s he like?”
“A WHITE LIZARDMAN WHO DIDN’T PARTICIPATE IN THE BATTLE. IT SEEMS SHE HAS DRUID POWERS.”
“Oh, that one! I see, I see…”
So we can use her, thought Ainz. She’ll make a good spy.
But if they implemented the idea in his mind right now, it might cause trouble for Cocytus when he had to govern them. So what should we do? Then he realized something with a start. …It’d be faster to just ask, even though asking before was pointless…
Ainz explained his plan to Cocytus. Cocytus’s response was affirmative. Ainz couldn’t be completely sure Cocytus wasn’t holding back out of respect, but when he glanced at Albedo and Demiurge and saw no change in their expressions, he figured there was probably nothing wrong with his idea.
“Okay. How long will it take you to bring her here?”
“PLEASE FORGIVE ME, BUT I THOUGHT YOU MIGHT ASK, SO I ALREADY HAVE HER IN A NEARBY ROOM.”
Ainz instinctively looked at Demiurge and saw him shaking his head slightly.
Crazy! He did something without being asked! It doesn’t seem like anyone gave him the idea, either… This must be how a boss feels seeing one of their subordinates grow, he thought, and his face warped in satisfaction, not that the bony exterior moved at all.
“No, no, that’s good, Cocytus. It’s foolish to waste time. Your judgment was correct. Okay, bring her here.”
“Um, please wait a minute!”
“What is it, Aura?”
“I don’t think this distasteful place is suitable for you to meet someone, Lord Ainz, even a subordinate. It would be better to meet her in the Throne Room at Nazarick.”
All the other guardians besides Mare made slight nods of agreement.
“…MY HUMBLE APOLOGIES, I DIDN’T CONSIDER THAT. DO FORGIVE ME!”
“Ahh…” I wasn’t even thinking about that! Ainz wondered what to do next. Then he remembered what he’d said earlier. In that case… “Aura.”
“My lord!”
“This place you made, into which you put so much thought—I told you I think it’s equal to Nazarick, right? I wasn’t lying. Cocytus, bring her in. We’ll meet her here.”
“L-Lord Ainz!”
“Aura, step down.”
“Albedo!” Aura responded fiercely, blushing. “Why are you stopping me?”
Albedo just shot one glance at her and then fixed her attention on the door.
The one who answered angry Aura was Demiurge. “…Lord Ainz’s words are correct in every instance. Thus, if he says he considers this place equal to Nazarick, then—”
“—that is correct.” Shalltear finished his sentence.
I don’t think my words are always correct, nor do I really want them thinking so…but in this case I guess it’s convenient if they do.
“Aura. I’ll tell you one more time. I think this place that you, one of my most trusted servants, a guardian, are working hard to build is equivalent to Nazarick—even if it’s still under construction… Do you understand?”
“…Lord Ainz. Thank you!” Aura bowed deeply. The other guardians followed suit.
You don’t have to be so…emotional. You’re gonna make me blush! “Then Cocytus, bring her here.”
“YES, SIR!”
Cocytus immediately brought the snow-white lizardman into the room. She kneeled and bowed her head before Ainz.
“Let’s hear your name.”
“Most supreme of the great, King of Death, Lord Ainz Ooal Gown, I am the representative of the lizardmen, Crusch Lulu.”
What an exaggerated title. Who came up with that? Ainz wondered, acting the composed king.
“…Hmm. Good of you to come.”
“My lord. Please accept the lizardmen’s absolute loyalty.”
“Hmm.” Ainz took a good look at Crusch.
Her scales were extremely beautiful. They sparkled stunningly in the magic light. Ainz was seized by a bit of intellectual curiosity regarding how they would feel if he touched them.
As he gazed at her, he noticed her shoulders were trembling slightly. He didn’t think Cocytus’s chill skill was activated, so there had to be some other reason. After mulling it over, he arrived at the obvious answer.
If Ainz said he didn’t care for them, all the lizardmen would be killed, so she had to pay careful attention to her each and every word. Under that mental stress, his silence must have been terrifying for her.
Ainz wasn’t the sort to derive pleasure from tormenting the weak. He could be incredibly brutal if it profited Nazarick, but his mind wasn’t so twisted that he would act that way all the time.
“From now on, you lizardmen will be under my rule. That said, Cocytus will govern you as my proxy. Any objections?”
“No.”
“Very well, then, that will be all. You may go home.”
“What? Are you sure?” Crusch exclaimed with her head still bowed. It was an appropriately stunned response considering what unreasonable, impossible demands she had expected him to make.
“For now. Crusch Lulu, you lizardmen are heading into a period of prosperity. Future lizardmen will surely be grateful—to be under my rule.”
“No, you’ve shown us such mercy despite our hostility toward your greatness, Lord Gown. We are already grateful.”
Ainz slowly stood up from his throne. Then he went next to Crusch, bent down, and put an arm around her shoulder.
Crusch flinched, and her trembling passed into Ainz’s arm.
“There’s also something I want to ask especially of you.”
“What might that be? I, your devoted servant, will do anything in my power for you, Lord Gown…”
“I want to ask you a personal favor. In exchange, I’ll resurrect Zaryusu.”
At the mention of the name he’d heard from Cocytus, her head shot up. Her expression was twisted in shock.
Feeling triumphant, Ainz continued to observe her. She was probably trying to hide the flurry of changes whirling through her expression. He couldn’t tell exactly what emotions they were, since the movements were so different from humans’, but they probably ran the gamut.
“You can do that…?”
“Yes, I can manipulate even life and death. Death is just another status for me,” he responded to her faint query. “Like poison or sickness. Of course, I can’t do anything about life span, but…” He had a feeling if he used Wish Upon a Star it would work, but he didn’t go as far as to say so.
“…Then what do you wish of me as your faithful slave? …Perhaps my body?”
Ainz was speechless. “No, I…don’t think that’s…” He nearly broke character and blurted, I mean, c’mon, a lizard? but he desperately clung to his persona. He decided to overlook the noise of grinding teeth coming from somewhere nearby. “Ahem. No, that’s not it. It’s simple: I want you to keep an eye out for any lizardmen who might betray me.”
“No lizardman would do such a thing,” she declared, but Ainz sneered at her.
“I’m not foolish enough to actually believe that. I’m no expert in lizardman thought, but for example, in the race of humans, betrayal wouldn’t be a rare occurrence. That’s why I want someone secretly watching from the inside.”
From her now blank expression, Ainz fretted internally that he’d gone about proposing it in the wrong way. He was already planning on bringing Zaryusu back to life, but his plot was to create a debt of gratitude on her side by manipulating her into asking him for it. What will I do if she refuses here? Maybe I shouldn’t have been so greedy… Well, no use crying over spilled milk.
“…Right now, there is a miracle right in front of you, but it won’t be there forever. If you don’t seize this moment, it’ll all be over.”
Crusch’s face twitched.
“We’re not going to do some creepy ritual. You probably have it in this world, too, right? Resurrection magic—that’s what I’ll be using.”
“Isn’t that a legen…?”
She swallowed her words, and Ainz spoke gently to her, acting his arrogant part. “Crusch. What is most important to you? I want you to think about that.”
Her gaze started to waver, and he flashed back to his days as a salesman, envisioning a client who was about to bite.
Next he had to get her to understand that this miracle wasn’t free. People were wary of free things, but they would often consent if a reasonable price was charged.
“You’re going to secretly observe your lizardman friends from the inside. You may have to make some difficult choices at times. And I’m going to cast a spell on Zaryusu when I resurrect him so you don’t betray me. If I ever suspect that you have, he’ll drop dead instantly. I’m sure this will all be agonizing for you, but won’t having Zaryusu back be worth that?” No spell like that exists, but she doesn’t need to know that.
He stood up slowly with the attitude that he’d said everything he had to say. Then he spread his arms.
Crusch watched him with eyes full of anguish.
“Oh yes, and after I revive Zaryusu, I’ll tell him that I brought him back to life because I had a use for him. I promise not to bring your name into it. Okay, Crusch Lulu, make your choice now. This is your last chance to bring back your beloved Zaryusu. What will you do? Will you shake my hand? Or not? Choose.” He slowly extended his hand to her. At the same time, he gave a strong warning to the guardians. “Don’t do anything even if she refuses! So, what’ll it be, Crusch Lulu?”