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Ainz calmly met the approaching Dragon Witch - but not because he was prepared for her approach - nor was it because he was confident in his victory, infact, Ainz had little confidence in staying alive. However, he took the approach of the Dragon Witch easy because his emotion suppression cut off his panic, leaving only simple and clear understanding of her approach.

"We need to run" Ainz instantly decided. He did not want to fight an opponent whose strength he did not know — and in the past few hours his desire had not changed.

"Retreat" was the thought to come to Ainz, but in an instant, as soon as this thought was fully fleshed out in his mind, it was replaced by another one... "Jeanne is the reason why we were found."

Retreating with Jeanne was possible. As practice showed. It was possible to teleport with the help of a spell. However, Jeanne remained the weak link that the Dragon Witch could detect with the help of her abilities. If Ainz retreated now, then the Witch would catch them again, but this time, she would be ready for teleportation magic. Perhaps she would bring with her a counter-spell, or a teleportation-blocking spell. No, in the current conditions, it would be quite logical if the Dragon Witch already had something like that - so she would just need to approach Ainz - and he would lose any opportunity to escape.

In such circumstances, Ainz would need to protect Jeanne from observation. It would be possible if she agrees to become his Servant. However, Jeanne refused such a proposal before, and she might refuse it again. If this happened, Ainz will have to use one of his charm spells, and after it wear off and Jeanne reacts to his actions, use the Command Spells to prevent her from harming him or his other Servants ... No, then Jeanne could find another way to sabotage their work, which Ainz could not have foreseen and warned - so, because of this, this method of influence did not fit with this girl.

So, the only correct way of behavior was to leave Jeanne and escape with the rest of the Servants. Doing this, Ainz might even manage to see some of the Dragon Witch's abilities when she fights Jeanne, and come up with possible lines of action.

Looking at how, seemingly out of nowhere, Jeanne appeared in front of Ainz, looking at the rapidly growing wyvern-shaped spot with the Servants on its back, Ainz had no doubt that the girl would not back down, no matter what conditions lie before her. She will fight. And she will lose. And she will die.

Thus, Ainz believed that the most logical line of actions was to run away, leaving the girl to fight with her incarnated alter-ego, then watch the battle from a safe distance, using magic, gather information, prepare for a new battle, and then, finding supporters and developing a strategy, deliver a crushing defeat on the Witch in her castle.

In other words, Ainz should have escaped now, using the "Greater Teleportation", leaving Jeanne to be torn apart.

But he could not.

It was not a matter of limiting factors, not the absence of mana nor spell that forbade him to teleport. But he still could not. Stretching his hand forward in order to cast the spell, Ainz realized that he could not.

Jeanne was not his guildmate or friend. Even ally was to strong of a word to call her by Ainz's standards. She was a very weak ally, if Ainz understood anything about her, she didn't have any information about the world around her and, in general, Ainz simply didn't see a reason to bother with the salvation of a Saint. But he still could not leave her. For a strange reason, which he himself could not describe, he could not do it.

"..." - Ains tried for a few precious moments to come up with an argument for or against, before saying with a sigh "Okay. Okay. So be it".

Memories of Touch Me made Ainz inhale and exhale a little indignantly through his nose, "Maybe you were right. Or I just don't understand myself anymore."

"In the end," the mage also concluded, justifying himself and his decision, rather than trying to understand himself, "Sooner or later, we would have to face them in battle — and I would have to test my strength on real opponents. Why not do it now while I can still escape?"

The mage took a step forward, then the second and third - and before he could react - he stood next to Jeanne.

She, flinching as he approached, turned to Ainz, then opened her mouth, as if wanting to ask something, then closed it, looked at the mage several times and smiled at him, turning away. Ainz also turned in the direction of approaching enemy Servants, and finally commanded his Servants:

"Hide" - he gave the command "The enemy does not know that you are here, so we will give them a warm welcome".

A little thought crossed his mind, and Ainz decided that one person did not fit for this battle "Mashu. Your goal is to protect the wounded. Do not interfere in the battle more than necessary."

"Okay, senpai" the answer made Ainz nod. This girl was not yet ready for battle with other Servants, especially Servants whose power were unknown. Perhaps it would be better if she stayed out of this battle.

"Servants" he finally called on the communication to all his subordinates, "Attack the enemy when you see the signal."

"What kind of signal?" Cu Chulainn addressed him on the link, but instead Ainz allowed himself a small grin.

"You'll see," he said, watching the six Servants standing on a large, massive wyvern, become more and more visible, "Do believe me - you will not miss it."

The girl who stood first on the wyvern stood out, even when compared to the other Servants that Ainz had time to observe in the past week. She looked like Jeanne d'Arc, who was now standing next to the mage, and at the same time, they were different like heaven and earth. The Jeanne standing next to him was wearing white and blue steel armor, covered only with a road cloak, while the Dragon Witch was wearing black armor, supported by a dark maroon fur lined mantle, as if her clothes were woven from gore itself. Jeanne, who was standing next to him, leaned on her spear to support herself, looking with her eyes, blue like a clear sky, at an approaching threat, hair the color of ripe rye braided in a tight braid. The Dragon Witch stood like a ruler, surveying her possessions from the window of a luxurious carriage, straightening a blade hidden in a black holster, needed only as a symbol of her power, observing with her cold, evil and cheerful golden eyes no more than a minor pest, her platinum-white hair was cut short, swaying from the wind in the sky.

Jeanne was preparing for battle. Dragon Witch was anticipating some fun.

It was impossible to discern the features of the Servants who stood behind the Witch. Although she was not very tall, her whole appearance riveted any eyes to look at her, forcing anyone to focus on her, not paying attention to her subordinates.

The huge wyvern, on which the Witch traveled, was not familiar to Ainz, but looking at its size the necromancer could assume that it was not less than the fortieth level. For most Servants, it was not a strong opponent, but still an opponent, and not just a brainless grind mob.

"Interesting" Ainz thought for a second "Can I get a good data-crystal from it?"

The wyvern, having approached a certain distance, began to descend, and after flying in an impressive circle around, as if boasting its strength, it landed down in front of Ainz and Jeanne, instantly lowering its head like a ladder for its mistress.

"Oh really?" taking one step, the Witch first approached the edge of the wyvern, and then slowly began to descend, "Really? I can not believe my eyes! Jeanne d'Arc herself, the Saint of Orleans herself! I am so honored, I just cannot express in words how glad I am to meet you - oh noble Holy One! I've heard so much about your accomplishments - especially the latest ones. Oh, when you burned the King - I was so glad to hear that! It was such a great news - as if I myself took part in it!"

With each phrase, full of caustic sarcasm and mockery, the Witch took another step forward, like a Queen, descending from her throne. Ainz tried to take a look at the Servants on the back of the wyvern, but when Witch climbed down from the wyvern - it instantly looked up, blocking the view to the mage.

"Unsuccessful" Ainz grimaced. He did not like to act blindly, especially when he did not know anything about the enemy.

"Why do you say such horrible things?" - looking at the Witch, Jeanne raised herself, trying to straighten her shoulders, - "Why did you do all this?"

The witch took a step forward, stopped, and, as if not understanding the question, blinked once before staring at Jeanne.

"What?" She asked as if not understanding, what Jeanne was talking about, "What horrible things?"

"All these!" Jeanne instantly flashed, as if hoping that she would be able to convince the Witch to give up with a simple conversation "Murders, blood, death, so many things…"

Stopping for a second, the Witch blinked a couple of times, then lowered her gaze to the floor.

"Please, back down now!" - Considering this as a good sign, Jeanne tried to continue her attack on the Witch, "Your actions are terrible, but you can still redeem all this! If you use your power for good, then we could restore peace again…"

Ainz noticed how the Witch's hands trembled finely, but before he could prepare for her to attack in a fit of rage, he heard something else.

Laughter, the most sincere laughter that he has ever heard in the last years of his life - it was the laughter of a child, the laughter of a person who has come across something really funny and absurd - that's what he heard. He heard this and Jeanne instantly stopped talking.

"Jeanne! Jeanne! Oh my sweet Jeanne!" the Witch repeated over and over again, interrupted by bouts of laughter, - "Incredible! How long has it been since I laughed so much?"..." why did you do all this?"... "Jeanne, they burned me! they burned you, they used you and me, they covered their sins by our names, their desires and misdeeds - and now that the payback is so close - are you telling me that I can "atone"? That I can "redeem"? Oh my sweet Jeanne!"

Unable to restrain herself, the Witch burst into the next fit of laughter, after which she began to spin on the spot.

"Gilles! Gilles!" - the girl shouted several times in the direction of the Servants and the wyverns, - "Oh, water please! I am hallucinating- I see something that is simply impossible in this world!"

"Oh my, what a pity, Gilles stayed in Orleans!" - after a second of reflection, the girl tried to regain control of herself. However, the smile on her face threatened to turn into laughter every second, "But, I will definitely tell him this joke! No, I offer you, Jeanne d'Arc, Saint of Orleans. I will not kill you, just so that you tell this joke to me every day, chained in my bedroom!"

Under normal conditions, Jeanne would surely be embarrassed by the mention of the chains and bedroom, but under these conditions, whatever imprints of embarrassment in her soul might exist were erased by much stronger emotions... fear, readiness and courage.

"I'm not going anywhere with you!" with this, Jeanne raised her banner, then put it forward, like a spear "I will fight!"

"Ha... Ha…" after these words, the Witch obviously tried to keep herself, but she could not, having immediately exploded with a new fit of laughter "Oh, no, Gilles, what a misfortune! The Holy One has suddenly became even dumber... no, she lost the last remnants of her mind!"

On this, Jeanne only took a step back.

"I feel bad, I'm dying!" The Witch took a step back, after which she falsely waved her hands, as if trying to provide herself with air. Ainz had time to notice how tears from incessant laughter flashed "Gilles, you didn't even tell me that I was so stupid before!"

"O Jeanne!" after these words the Witch glanced at the Saint "What nonsense you dare to spout, Jeanne! I am the only worthy thing that ever was in your life. I am stronger than you, I am smarter than you, I am more experienced than you - you are just those wastes that found no place inside me. You are the one who could not admit even to herself her weakness, her stupidity, could not outgrow her innocence, and you paid for it. I am the final form, I am the "Jeanne" you should have become."

"You're lying," Jeanne only shuddered at that, "I would never have done what you did."

"Really?" the Witch grinned at it again - but, it seems, the limit of her laughter was exhausted, "You have been doing this all your life. Robberies, revenge, murders, executions - that is what you patronized in this war. Soldiers, mercenaries, marauders, robbers, they all idolized you and killed in your name, thanks to you. I recognized this in myself - I stepped over my naivety while you chose to continue to cling to your weakness and innocence. You're pathetic, Jeanne d'Arc."

Every word of the Witch was like a lash for Jeanne, but she took it with the humility of a martyr.

"Yes," the girl finally said, "Yes, I myself ... I don't know what happened once in my life. I do not know symbol of what I have become. I do not know why I fought in the end. But I know one thing, I did not want to kill. I did not want to torture, maim and destroy. I didn't want what you want."

Looking up at the Witch, Jeanne looked at her with a challenge.

"I fought for the people, for France, for our Lord. I led people because I saw my goal" - Jeanne looked into the Witch's eyes, making her grin - but this time it was not a real smile of a merry man, but a sarcastic cheeky grin - "Tell me what goal leads you?"

"Goal?" the Witch grinned at this "I will destroy those who betrayed me. I will burn those who refused to fight for me. I will kill those who left me. I will tear this world apart."

"And what will be left after that?" Jeanne looked at this at the Witch, and then took a step forward, "What will remain after you kill everyone?"

"A world full of fire and suffering" the Witch smiled back, and Ainz, for the first time in the whole conversation, saw a hidden insanity in the Witch's eyes "A world of torment."

"So I will fight," Jeanne glanced at Ainz and he, as brightly as he could, smiled.

"Do you understand who are you even trying to fight?" Witch smiled patronizingly at this, and then she glanced at Ainz "Or are you hoping for another miracle from god? He cursed this land, his voice can no longer be heard, which means that god has left this world."

"But I did not," the girl looked into the Witch's eyes.

"What audacity!" Witch grinned at this "Putting yourself in one row with god! what a blasphemy! How right were those that burned you as a heretic!"

With these words, Jeanne took a half-step back, but Ainz extended his hand and stopped the girl, allowing her to look at the Witch again. She, in response, narrowed her eyes, looking at Ainz.

"And who are you?" Witch grinned at this, "Another enthusiastic fan of hers, ready to eat from her hands? Or perhaps you are one of those crazy priests who have found a new Idol in your Holy One? Tell me, are you a beggar? oh, she's good at misting their mind like that, or were you just seduced by the body of a maiden?"

With these words, the Witch laughed particularly loudly, after which she ran her finger along her body, passing them along her chest and up to her thigh. Of course, it looked very sexy, but Ainz could not be embarrassed with such a thing.

"No," he objected eventually, after which he glanced at Jeanne. She, in turn, looked back at him, "I'm just her ally."

Jeanne looked at him, then closed her eyes, muttering only a very quiet "Thank you."

"That's just boring," the Witch frowned at this, then shrugged, "Well, what a pity! Jeanne, I was hoping that I would be able to put you on a chain like a dog - but it seems that this time I will not be able to get what I want. But it's no problem, I think Gilles will find a way to embalm only your head. Such a trophy would suffice."

After saying this, the Witch moved toward her wyvern. The moment the girl approached the beast, Ainz nodded to himself.

"Well, it seems that she said everything she wanted," Ainz sighed. "In that case ... It's time."

In an instant, when the girl was next to the lizard, Ainz stretched his hand forward.

Yes, this body could not withstand his full power, but it could withstand even the magic of A rank, in other words, magic from the Age of Gods.

And Ainz had a wide variety of eighth rank spells.

Therefore, stretching his arm forward, Ains did not hesitate for a second "Explosion!"

The flash of light instantly covered not only the Witch, but also all the Servants who stood in the center of the spell, as well as Ainz and Jeanne themself. Even the hiding Servants of Ainz felt uncomfortable when the fireball rose hundreds of meters above the ground before degenerating into a combustible cloud of molten stone and steam.

In Yggdrasil "Explosion" was one of the best spells of the eight rank, in other words - one may even find this even in the battle of level one hundred players.

Unfortunately, the damage inflicted by it was not incredible, but as a spell, "Explosion" had a number of important features. It had a pretty big area of effect, and imposed quite a few debuffs on the enemies who were unlucky enough to be in the center of the spell, such as "blindness" and "deafness", but the main ability of this spell was different. "Explosion" was the great spell when it was about knocking back the enemy, second only to the ninth tier spell "Nuclear Blast", which was currently beyond the abilities of this body to handle. This spell had enormous potential just because it could be used to split a group of opponents into several single targets scattered on the map, left without the protection and support of each other.

Of course, almost all players of the hundredth level shad ways to defend themselves against such an effect, through abilities or equipment, but the "Nuclear Blast" and it's smaller version, used right now, "Explosion" were still used quite often, and quite successfully, to the displeasure of many players.

However, that was a game, and it was a reality.

Like a fireball, the Explosion swallowed the earth for hundreds of meters around, instantly burning all the signs of life, throwing a flash of light miles in all directions. Such a spell could be compared to the potent spells of the High Thaumaturgy, or some Noble Phantasms, it could instantly evaporate most of the weak Servants and, of course, did not leave even a chance for ordinary people.

But at the same time, the terrifying force of an explosion, like in the game, remained only a smaller part of the spell's abilities. More importantly, according to the plan, the Witch's Servants were instantly scattered like pins, as if some lucky player hit them with a bowling ball in a clear strike. Instantly, they all lost contact with each other and mutual aid from their comrades, and were cut off from each other.

Ainz smiled, then lowered his hand, using it to cover from the Jeanne from the spell.

"Th... " Jeanne tried to say something, but looking at the scorched ashes that remained after using of the spell, she lost herself, "Th... Thank you."

Ainz turned to Jeanne, forcing her to slightly twitch when his eyes locked on the girl "No, it's nothing. However, I apologize ... Surprisingly, no one except the wyvern was killed. Well, one of the Servants was extremely interesting to me, so please forgive, I think I want to deal with him personally."

with that, Ainz smiled at Jeanne, and the disappeared into a teleportation whirlwind.

Not far from him, Cu Chulainn slowly rose from his spot, rubbing his bright-burned eyes.

"Well, we certainly did not miss it..." the guy sighed "I thought that there would be something less... Flashy."

"But, I suppose, it's better for us" Cu Chulainn twitched his neck several times, and then he looked at the Servants standing nearby, "At least, now absolutely no one can tell that my Master is a weakling."

"And so, my comrade Servants…" he glanced at his comrades standing next to - "It's time to earn our keep!"

She was dying.

The girl did not understand in what world she was. The pain flooded her mind — the entire right half of her body did not obey her, as if she didn't even have a hand, a leg, or even an eye.

She will die.

Smack of vomit and metal in the mouth were atrociously disgusting for her, her head was spinning, as if in a crazy round dance. Her stock of mana spent to the very bottom, her body crumbled, her nerves ached with pain. Even her weapon were lying nearby, like a useless stick.

She was already dead.

The fact that she was alive could not be called even a miracle, it was something superior to any miracle. But still, this miracle had reasons.

Although her class was an Assassin, the conditions of the current summon were such that, thanks to her connection with the Master, she received part of the power of Berserker. Although it did not give her any additional skills, it still raised her abilities.

It was also important that her Master fed her with practically unlimited mana. The abilities of the Dragon Witch as Master were insignificant, but the sheer amounts of power she could put in order to maintain the Assassin's abilities were incredible.

Only the mutual effect of these two factors was the reason why the Assassin was still alive. But even so, it was only a momentary miracle, the girl felt that she was dying.

"To be honest, I feel like scum. To fight the enemy in such a state is unworthy of the greatest hero of the Celts" the voice that rang out next to the girl came to her as if through a thick wall of wool, "Besides... DoI even need fight? this is now just a burnt corpse."

Is she a burned corpse?

The girl tried to understand. Burnt corpse... So fast, easy, in one spell. She was not the one who was defeated with one spell! This is not her, right?!

"Or is it already considered a blow of mercy?" A voice came out a little closer, however, behind the wall of cotton wool, the girl did not even hear his steps.

"What a pity..." the voice sounded disappointed, "You could have been so beautiful...such terrible magic... It's even sad."

She is beautiful! She is the most beautiful woman on earth! She could not lose her beauty, she was always the most beautiful! She went through so much to achieve such beauty, she did so much... It could not disappear just like that, in an instant, just with one click of a finger from some shitty mage! She could not lose so easily!

Blood did not flood her face because it had long caked into a single hard crust - therefore, when the girl opened her remaining eye, through pain and rage, nothing prevented her from seeing the guy standing next to her. Blue-haired, he leaned on a staff, watching her with a mixture of pity, sadness and curiosity.

"So are you still alive?" the guy was surprised. Although any Servant could feel other Servants, her waning powers were now so insignificant that they could easily be overlooked.

But she was still alive.

She was alive.

Alive!

And she will not die so easily!

For a moment, a figure appeared behind the standing guy. A huge iron sarcophagus with a carved ornament opened, exposing its full steel spikes inside, after which several chains sprang forward like tentacles, grabbing the arms and legs of a guy.

"What?!" only he managed to exclaim before another chain twisted around his head and a sharp jerk pulled him inside, slamming the steel doors of the sarcophagus behind him, thrusting the steel spikes into the sacrifice.

She will not die so easily! She existed before Lancer, she was the first, she must be the greatest!

"Phantom Maiden!" Assassin said the name of her Noble Phantasm, feeling the blood of her enemy spill over to her, returning her lost beauty and strength to her, and restoring her missing limbs.

Slowly, the girl rose from the ground, and raised her staff.

Although she didn't have enough strength to fully recover, she was able to stand on both legs again, taking the staff in one hand, and then touched her face with the second hand. Her face was beautiful again, her hair was again like expensive silk, her skin was snow-white again.

The girl took a step toward the Iron Maiden to reach the withered corpse of the unlucky Servant, who came too close for his own good, but at the moment when she took the step, something hit the wall of the Maiden. The girl froze, and then heard another blow, and then another.

With a sharp screech, one of the cusps of the sarcophagus opened wide, hitting the steel shell of the Maiden.

"Not a bad trick" the guy who emerged from the door looked like a torture victim, as the tool suggested. His luxurious fur coat was torn, and scarlet blood flowed from numerous wounds on his body, his hands slightly shuddered, but there was no hint of defeat in his eyes. On the contrary, there was only excitement, "But the Noble Phantasm always betrays the identity of its owner. Isn't that right, Elizabeth Bathory?"

Archer frowned when the girl in front of him lightly dusted off the dust, then looked at him with a passive look. Although she was lightly dressed and did not carry a weapon other than a staff with a pommel in the shape of a Catholic cross, something in her appearance made Archer tense.

"Why are you not hurt?" he said in the end, when he could finally understand what was bothering him in the figure of a girl. Her purple hair was disheveled and her white cape, which looked like a nun's cape, was slightly burned, but nothing in her blue eyes betrayed any pain or anxiety, just like her skin was clean from burns or wounds.

"The Lord grants miracles to his faithful followers" the girl grabbed onto her staff, and slightly tilted it so that Archer could see the cross-shaped pommel.

"So you are a Catholic" Archer nodded, then glanced around at her figure, trying to find something else, "But what does the Lord say about all the horrors that you brought to this land? What does he say about your Master? What does he say about the suffering on this earth?"

"Lord works in mysterious ways," the girl just grabbed onto her staff. However, the words came out not soothing, but cold.

"Is there any words about the killing of the innocent children in those "ways of the Lord"?" with this, Archer just looked at the girl. She opened her mouth for a new phrase...

A figure in a black cloak appeared from nowhere behind her back, it made the girl twitch, but it was too late. A small black blade that did not reflect the light entered her throat right up to the handle, after which, Hassan's hand with surgical precision opened the girl's neck to the very spine.

A moment later, Hassan jumped away from the girl's body, landing near Archer.

"At least you still understand the basics of tactics," Archer just shook his head at these words. Each of them turned away from the dead Servant, however...

"So, that's it," the girl's voice was as calm as before. The two Servants instantly turned to the girl, only to find her standing in her place as if nothing had happened "Distract an innocent victim with conversation, then, using her kindness, kill her. Such a sinful deed..."

"Hassan," Archer turned to the Assassin instantly, when his keen eyesight found that all that was left on the girl's neck was just a barely noticeable scratch, no deeper than a cut from the cat's claw, "You missed."

"No," Hassan retorted instantly, "The blade entered accurately and the cut was perfect. She cannot have survived."

"Then why is she still alive?" Archer took a step back, giving himself place for an attack, which should have followed soon.

However, Archer did not receive the answer to this question from Hassan. Smiling, the girl straightened her shoulders, like a thug preparing for a fight, and grabbed her staff in the manner of a huge claymore "The Lord grants miracles to his faithful followers."

Ainz was near his goal instantly, thanks to teleportation, but the Servant was already on his feet. His exquisite black cloak was torn and tanned, his white hair was tousled, and the neatly trimmed white beard was burned in many places, but in spite of this, the Servant looked healthy enough. A few tanns here and there looked, at best, like superficial burns, which is why Ainz stiffened. Although the spell did affect the Servant, and it was far from the strongest in Ainz's arsenal, the fact that someone could still resist Ainz's force meant a lot to him.

"So, you will be my opponent?" noticing Ainz, who appeared from the teleportation circle, the Servant looked at him with interest "You are the mage who created such a terrifying phenomenon? I pay tribute to your strength, but know that you will perish in this battle."

"Okay," Ainz just nodded at that. Although the man in front of him looked tall, slim, aristocratic, handsome, with a charm of nobleness soaring around him that was impossible to not see, Ainz's mind had already switched to battle mode, because of that, no distracting factor could now make him distracted "But please, answer one question."

"Well, if such is the last wish of such a powerful mage, I will try to respond to it as best I can," a spear, looking more like a long narrow wooden thorn, appeared from the air in the hands of Ainz's enemy. Ainz instantly noted this fact, analyzed and set aside.

"You..." he began asking his question, glancing at the aristocrat's red eyes "Are a vampire, aren't you?"

After these words, the servant opposite to Ainz stopped, as if frozen in place. Ainz noted that he hit the nail on the head.

"If the conditions of my summon were slightly different, for this question I would tear you apart and command the riders to pull pieces of your flesh throughout my Kingdom until the horses died of fatigue," the words of Lancer were bitter and dry, "However, I already promised to answer you one of your questions, and the violating my word would make me look bad. Besides, in this condition, I am afraid, the answer to this question is already obvious."

"Yes," with these words Lancer raised his spear "I am a vampire. I am a legendary vampire. I am the greatest vampire that ever existed on this earth!"

"I am Vlad III, named as the Impaler, Tepes," Vlad smiled at these words, raising a wooden stake, "In other words, I am THE vampire. Dracula!"

Hearing these words, Ainz instantly felt how the plans he built in his head immediately froze, after which, they began to re-assemble again, with radical speed, "Dracula?"

"Yes, the greatest of all vampires, Dracula," Vlad said these words proudly, but at the same time Ainz felt something under the surface, some inner shade of the spoken phrase, "Look at me, see my legend, and die."

'If he really is Dracula…" Ainz's mind made him think about one of the NPCs in Yggdrasil "The situation can change dramatically for the worse…"

"I beg your pardon," however, Ainz said aloud, "However, I have to refuse."

"I'm afraid, even if you had a choice before," Vlad instantly squeezed his spear to these words, "After such a question I will not allow you to back out."

Medusa rushed after the Master - although she did not know exactly with which Servant he started the battle with, she could feel that he was probably the strongest of all the Servants of the Dragon Witch. However, she only took a few steps, when a sudden movement ahead of her made her jump back.

"I beg your pardon," it was impossible to discern who spoke in this voice, it was rude enough to belong to a very young guy, and at the same time so soft as to resemble the voice of a masculine girl, "However, you will not go further in the name of my Master. Please forgive me, but such is fate. I'm afraid both of us will have to fight."

The Servant's voice, the sound of footsteps, even the sensation of magic confused Medusa. She was desperately unable to determine exactly who appeared before her. Although she had never before had any problems with determining whether a man was standing in front of her or a woman - right now her perception gave her the most contradictory signals. For a second, Medusa wanted to remove the bandage in order to look at the enemy with her own eyes, but she understood that most likely even a direct look at the Servant would not answer her question.

"I ask you to forgive me, noble lady," Medusa was confused by the voice, but in the end she decided to consider the one to appear in front of her a guy, "But we have no other choice. We have to fight."

"As it is necessary for my Milady's true knight, I obey her orders," the guy took another step aside, after which he took a stance, as if in a duel, and then the girl felt him slowly draw his blade, narrow and long, it mostly looked like a musketeer sword, "However, I ask you to understand how it's difficult for a true Frenchwoman to pass by beauty like yours. Please, if one of us is destined to die here and now, give me at least your name, noble lady."

Ignoring the unexpected sex change in the story about himself, Medusa looked up.

"In other words, you want to know my name before the start of our battle?" Medusa raised her head so that, if she did not have a mask, she would be looking at the opponent opposite to her. "You hide your intentions behind verbal lace and compliments. You act like a knight, but you use very dishonest tactics."

"I beg your pardon, noble..." and without finishing the phrase, a moment later Saber rushed. His enormous speed barely allowed Medusa to move from her place, the very first blow of the blade was almost the last for her. The blade of the sword passed by her head in millimeters, cutting through Rider's skin, forcing her to instantly strike Saber with a dagger. Just as swiftly as before, Saber instantly retired back, after that, when Rider's blade struck after him when Medusa pulled the chain to which it was tied, Saber easily jumped to the side, having almost done an acrobatic etude. Stopping after a few jumps, Saber smiled, a little mocking, a little joyfully, and a little evilly, after which he finished the sentence, "... lady, but I can't fight otherwise."

Arthuria saw the difficulties that Rider was facing and rushed to her aid, however, she only took a few steps, when movement from the side distracted the swordwoman. Arthuria managed only to draw her blade in order to soften the collision, after which, a sharp blow literally blew her off, sending her flying. The girl had to use the Manaburst in order to slow down her movement, and then another, in order to successfully roll over in flight and land on her feet.

However, the attacker did not stop at this, another blow forced Arthuria to step aside, blowing up the place where she was, with bits of earth flying all over, followed by another blow, then another, and another. Arthuria dodged the strike time after time, but the flow of attacks did not stop, with an incredible speed, the attacker's weapon flickered in the air, forcing the girl to avoid the blows, not allowing her to see exactly who attacked her.

One more blow, two more, one more and as many as three at once, the flow of attacks was endless. At some point, Arthuria realized that she was driven into a dull defense, she could not even see who was attacking her. She needed to act before the enemy could impose his rhythm fully on her, and then destroy with one clear blow.

Arthuria grabbed her Excalibur, and then, when the enemy's Servant struck her again, instead of retreating and dodging, she blocked the attack with her sword, after which, strengthening the blade with a Manaburst, she forced the attacker to finally interrupt the endless series of attacks, and retreated herself.

Finally, she managed to break contact with the enemy and look at the attacker. However, before seeing the one who was able to attack her with such an incessant series of blows - the girl saw what attacked her.

Finally, she managed to break contact with the enemy and look at the attacker. However, before seeing the one who was able to attack her with such an incessant series of blows - the girl saw weapon that kept attacking her.

What she saw was incredible. At first, the girl did not even understand what she was looking at.

Something resembled a staff. However it was the strangest staff that she could see in her life. It was extremely thick... thicker than the arm of an adult man, and extremely long, taller than a standing adult man, no, perhaps he was even more than two and a half meters. The staff was almost completely covered in black, with bright red cracks penetrating it like a network of blood vessels, occasionally shuddering and pulsing, as if in tune with a heartbeat.

"This is..." - the girl blinked once, a sign of her incredible surprise - "This is... The trunk of a tree?"

The strange thing in her opponent's hands was really a tree trunk. The texture and the rough shape of the bark were hidden behind the black color and red tears piercing the tree, but what the girl saw was really the trunk of a young tree, taken in the manner of the staff - and a huge cudgel.

"Who would have thought of fighting with a tree trunk?" She blinked. Only a madman.

"Who could fight with a tree trunk?" - there were many answers to this question - anyone with sufficient strength to take a tree trunk in his hands could start swinging it around, but who could fence with it? Only a true master.

The girl's gaze rose from the weapon its wielder.

Soot was impossible to notice on the black armor of the knight, because of that, it seemed as if the Arthuria's opponent came out out from someone's nightmare, he was completely uneffected by a spell that had swallowed him recently. There were no eyes in the narrow slit of the helmet — only a red glow pulsing in sync with the heartbeat of the enemy's strange weapon. However, Arthuria could have sworn that the knight's eyess were looking at her with endless hatred. Not at the world, only at her.

She knew this armor. She knew this helmet. She knew this man.

Master by the achievements in his life - and a madman by his actions. Everything, as she said.

"Lancelot," Arthuria said calmly glanced at the faithful knight of the Round Table.

The knight's rage boiled in him in a second, after which he went wild with the wild roar of a mad beast "ARTHUR!"

After that, Berserker broke a new series of attacks, a thousand times fiercer than before.

Jeanne watched how the battles between Ainz's Servants and those of the Dragon Witch erupted, and she felt gratitude. Gratitude to all who fought for her now. To all who risked their lives. And she especially felt gratitude towards Ainz.

She saw people fighting next to her, it seemed to her that she was fighting again near Orleans - the forces of France and Lord himself are on her side. But she understood that without Ainz's order, none of the Servants would have fought for her. Therefore, she was grateful to Ainz. It was Ainz who was now her army, while she was once again nothing more than the banner of battle. No, in this battle - was it even a banner? She was more like a burden. None of the fighters are now fighting for her - no one is fighting for France - and no one is fighting for Lord. They all fought for Ainz, and only for him. And so she was grateful to Ainz from the bottom of her heart.

"Really…" when dust from the terrifying spell just began to settle, a voice - too familiar to her, exactly the same as her voice, bound her, "Really, really, really…"

The words were pronounced with a slight sarcastic grin, but inside, Jeanne was frozen by the horror that churned her blood, just as the light and barely tinkering patches of armor seemed to her like a screech of the executioner's ax, "This little silly Saint decided to get rid of me?"

From the slowly falling dust, the Dragon Witch emerged like a manifesting ghost, slowly taking shape and color, turning from a black shadow into the same Witch that Jeanne faced just a few minutes ago.

"Did you really think that a couple tricks and a little bit of magic can kill me, Jeanne d'Arc?" The Witch, emerging from the slowly descending ash, did not even seem to change her facial expression. Not a single hair on the tamping of her raincoat was singed, not a single joint on the armor of her gloves was even covered with soot, not a single millimeter of her skin was damaged by the spell, - "Did you really think that you will succeed?"

Looking at this, Jeanne felt a primal panic rising from her depths and took a step back, after which, as if remembering why she fought in this battle, she grabbed her banner like a spear.

"So, do you really hope to beat me?" - noticing how Jeanne's hands were slightly trembling whenever Witch hit the ground with her steel boot especially loudly, she smiled, "But can you do it? What are you hoping for, Jeanne d'Arc? For a miracle? For the god? Or for your own pathetic forces?"

Taking another step forward, the Witch smiled, "You're just rubbish. You are nothing. Looking at you, I want to vomit, seeing how weak I once was. I hate you, your weakness is the cause of my death. You are weak, you are naive, you are pathetic."

With every word, the Witch took a step forward, forcing Jeanne to retreat time after time, as if a wild wolf was approaching a defenseless doe "Why were you even was born, if all you have achieved is a painful death at the stake? You are a nothing, you are just rubbish whose fate is suffering and agony, you are…"

With a whistle that cuts through the air, the blade, like two drops of water similar to the blade of Hassan, flew near the face of the Witch. She only managed to move her head slightly, which is why the dagger left a long cut on her cheek, disfiguring her skin, which even the magic from the Age of Gods could not hurt.

"You're annoying," the girl who appeared next to Jeanne made her turn her head. Serenity was straightening several of her throwing knives between her fingers "Shut up."

Slowly, the Witch raised her hand to her face, picking up a few drops of blood from her cheek. Stopping for a second, she took her hand to look at it and with some surprise saw the blood glisten in the rays of the slowly rising morning sun.

"So, it is like this?" - after looking at her blood, the Witch smiled, then shook off the drops from her hand and in the blink of an eye, clutched at her blade, "So, you will die next to your Saint."

"She is not my Saint," having said this, Serenity jumped aside, allowing Jeanne to prepare for the strike, "But I agree already to anything you want, as long as you shut up."

Magic Resistance - is one of the most common skills in general. This skill is class-based for as many as three classes: Saber, Lancer, and Archer, but it is an extremely common personal skill in general. As it is easy to guess from the name, this skill is responsible for the Servant's resistance to magic. However, due to some interaction of the skill with Existence Outside the Domain, the Magic Resistance skill changed in case of Ainz.