62

Sitting on a beach near the edge of the island looking at the waves ceaselessly crashing before it, Ainz was deep in thought.

Slowly, the waves continued to roll one on top of another, crawling onto the sandy beach with all the noise that accompanied its passing.

This rhythmic tidal sound was quite relaxing. Pacifying. Refreshing even to his troubled mind.

It's funny. A really funny thing to consider.

The singularities were the "events" - in game terminology - through which he progressed through the "story". In fact, it was but a test of his skills as a "player" - "can you defeat this monster?", "can you solve these riddles?", "Will your allies survive?" Game conventions, the elusive moving plot. A linear progression of "events" steadily becoming more challenging in turn. For him, as a "player", there was no point in caring of the outcome of this "event", except whether or not he would "lose" or "win". The things that a "player" cared about were from the category of "what resources can I find there?", "What kind of opponent will I meet there?", "Will I like one of the newly introduced NPC's?". At least it should have been, if it were a game. From the player's point of view, Humanity's continued existence, this all represented nothing but a big "event" - one of hundreds of similar ones. "Humanity was destroyed" - an interesting approach to the narrative, but in the end - just a meaningless part of the "lore" that builds the next "event".

But if you were to look at such an "event" not from the perspective of some outside "player", but from the point of view of the "NPC's" living in this world? What was he supposed to feel? Horror? Determination? Anger? Apathy?

Did it make him a bad person that before his conversation with Mashu he had not even tried to look at the situation "seriously"? Should he have been trying to understand the point of view of those living in this world? Or should he discard these thoughts and not bother with such "trivial" things? What would his guildmates say?

Ainz was not sure.

The waves beneath his feet slowly crept onto the coastal line, leaving only wet sand.

Sitting on a small rock, legs dangling, looking at the surf, Ainz was currently lost in his head. All the time it seemed to him that the correct answer to all these questions, one that would solve all his problems and worries all at once, was close by, but he couldn't grab hold of it, and the answer remained within his reach, but infuriatingly remained completely unattainable for Ainz.

"I wonder if philosophers who ruminate about the meaning of life feel this way." - Ainz stared at the wave breaking over the sands gently rolling through, after which he shook his head and looked away.

To discover Cainabel, who is currently walking towards him.

"My lord," the girl bowed, after which, glancing at Ainz who was glancing at the ocean, quickly followed the direction of his gaze, and smiled. "Are you contemplating the beauty of nature?"

"Not really," Ainz sighed and looked at the glittering sea. The waves slowly overcame the preceding one, calming Ainz, - "I'm just looking at the sea... A lot of time has passed since I last saw it."

There were seas in Yggdrasil of course, but Yggdrasil in the end remained but a game.

Although recently, Ainz was no longer sure what he could consider but a game, and what was reality.

"Hm, really," Cainabel glanced at the sea, then smiled to herself. "To be honest, I also haven't seen the sea for a long time."

Cainabel, as befits her in-game status as a boss, had her own "dungeon" - her permanent residence, the Blood Gardens. From the very beginning of the "event" and its existence to the moment when the "event" along with it ended, Cainabel was always in the "dungeon" and never left its premise. Naturally, being stuck in her location Cainabel could not see the sea.

'Funny,' Ainz smiled. 'Another creature from and 'event' now going beyond what was supposed to be just a game.'

Ainz looked at the sun slowly rising from the horizon.

This evening it would all be over. Final preparations were made, plans were hashed out, everyone received the plan according to their final instructions, and now all that remained for Ainz, who was not subject to the need for sleep, was to wait for morning to arrive.

"Cainabel," Ainz looked at the girl, who then bowed in response, showing him a willingness to listen, "Don't play around with the enemies anymore."

"Of course, my lord," Cainabel smiled, "I will finish in three strikes."

"What if there are two enemies?" Ainz smiled at Cainabel's reply.

"Three strikes for all of them," Cainabel smiled back, "Regardless of the number of enemies."

"Hm," Ainz grunted, turning away, "I hope you understand that your third Phantasm is still banned?"

"If I had to use it against such trash, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself," Cainabel shook her head.

Ainz just nodded.

There was silence for a second, broken only by the sound of the surf.

"Don't worry, my lord," Cainabel smiled. "Your attack will be as unexpected as it is ruthless."

Ainz sighed.

If only that was what occupied his mind...

Ainz sighed, and then rose from his seat.

"I'll go and walk a bit," he nodded to Cainabel, and then walked away, watching the waves slowly continue to roll on and on...

Medusa glanced at her sister.

Medusa remembered Euryale just like she currently is - "the ageless goddess of love and youth." Unlike Medusa, who was created "defective" from the very beginning, Euryale and Stheno were two natural goddesses, forever young, forever loved, forever beautiful. Since the past, none of that has changed even slightly. It was funny then that despite their youthful appearance they were also the elder sisters of Medusa.

"Euryale," Medusa got out of bed, looking at the girl. Judging by her inner clock - it was only early morning - "Anything wrong?"

Euryale just threw a big grin her way. "Oh! Is my little sister not glad to see me anymore?"

Medusa did not particularly trust her smile. Yes, Euryale was her older sister, but it was impossible to call her anything like "reliable". Like many other older sisters - her attitude to the youngest was loving, but sometimes very cruel in her own way. In other words, although Medusa was considered in some sense to be a "bloodsucker" according to her legend - which of whom was about drawing blood in case it was not entirely clear. Perhaps, if you follow the logic that being deceived was also being sucked, then for all the time that Medusa trusted her and was eventually deceived - she would now have been left without blood at all.

Euryale, as if seeing through Medusa's private thoughts, only allowed an even greater smirk to form than usual, after which she shook her head, - "Don't worry. I would not do anything to discredit my reputation while there are so many other Servants around here anyway."

Medusa shook her head at that. From the very beginning, Euryale shunned the Medusa's allies for some reason, especially Ainz, although she tried not to show it.

"Sometimes, when I'm next to him, I have a feeling that he is ready to atomize me" - Euryale gave just such a ludicrous answer when she asked why her sister seemed so put off by her Master's presence. Medusa was deeply perplexed when she received such an answer - Ainz could, given the right target, really be frightening... But only for those who did not know him or his enemies. In fact, Ainz was a truly wonderful Master. He loved his Servants and he really appreciated them. In addition, he was a very peaceful person - so much so that Medusa could predict that if a Holy Grail War happened near him that her Master would not be chosen as a Master at all. He was just too pacifistic for such a conflict.

Medusa then tried to imagine what could anger such a kind person, and then shook her head. Nothing she could easily imagine.

"Strange," Medusa shook her head, looking at Euryale, "I always thought you loved being the center of attention and gossipping. Instead, you are avoiding people - how unlike you."

"The Servants around me are not at all to my liking," Euryale grimaced. "One that is holier-than-thou, one that reeks of blood and death, one naive girl and last but not least a crazy monster. Not the best of companies to make acquaintances or for small talk."

"And I thought you would like to talk with someone like Jeanne," Medusa smiled. "You have not run away from such a source of a debate before."

"I neither have the time and patience to indulge in such activity right now," Euryale shook her head, and then sighed, "Medusa. I actually came here to ask you about something."

"Isn't it about one of your brilliant ideas?" Medusa rolled her eyes. How many times has she suffered because of the actions of Euryale...

"No, this is definitely not one of my cunning plans," Euryale sighed, then nodded. "Let's go. I need your help with something."

Medusa looked at Euryale, after which she nodded. Euryale remained her elder sister anyway, so all that remained for Medusa was to follow her instructions and hope that this time Euryale would not let her down.

Mashu winced while halfway in a dream.

"THE TIGER GOES HUNTING!" she wanted to protect her ears from the scream of Tamamo.

"STOP! YOU DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO DO THIS!" - of course Elizabeth's cry somehow was even louder.

Mashu slowly inhaled, then exhaled, opening her eyes.

Outside the walls of her room, provided to her by the owners of this island, the assault to her senses that happened again and again like clockwork happened again. Tamamo and Elizabeth showed their true level of maturity by playing tag.

On the one hand, this annoyed Mashu, but on the other hand, she was grateful that there were two such child-like Servants on the island. Being together, they occupied each other's attention and time, grouping together and staying on the periphery of perception, doing their own things. On the other hand, Tamamo periodically tried to involve someone new, like the new Servants that she just met, in her game - usually giving out the argument that "the wild predator needs a new victim!". While Elizabeth, as expected, screamed, shouted and cried with wild abandon - destroying the morning calm and the quiet sleepy peace for all those present.

"I'm not surprised that her Noble Phantasm is a scream," Mashu grimaced, and then reached out for her glasses, getting up from the bed.

Mashu was still grateful to the three inhabitants of the island for the bed and a roof over her head. Medusa, however, only wondered how Euryale was able to create something like this. A question which Euryale dismissed out of hand, saying that a girl had to have her own secrets. However, given that Euryale was a goddess, something as paltry as creating shelter should really not have caused any reaction in Medusa or Mashu.

Mashu, finally fully waking up, reached for her clothes. Of course, she could summon her combat uniform, as the other Servants could do, but she was not particularly accustomed to this method, preferring to do it the old-fashioned way - just as she always did.

Leaving her room and into the open air Mashu looked at the collection of small buildings around her. A second later, Mashu suddenly looked at what was happening in front of her in surprise.

Inside a small room that functioned as the kitchen was Jeanne and the Witch - however, Mashu's surprise was far from connected with this fact. What was surprising was the fact that the two girls, represented periodically by the flickering flame and a spreading mouth-watering smell, indicating the nature of their preoccupation.

The two irreconcilable enemies... are cooking.

Struck by the scene in front of her, Mashu froze on the threshold of her room, looking at what was happening, not daring to break the illusion in front of her.

"Oil!" The Witch ordered while trying to wrangle the kitchen knife to cut some vegetables.

Mashu was not even sure what was more surprising - the fact the shelter has a kitchen and even food, or what the two girls are trying to cook in these conditions. And if the first could still be attributed to the fact that Ainz somehow has a whole kitchen from his stocks or even created it with magic - which would explain everything. "Ainz did it" - the best explanation for everything happening that happened. Then the second thing still worried Mashu's mind.

"Which one is the oil?" Jeanne tried to find the right one among the bottles. To her credit, it was worth saying that the bottles were not packaged at all according to the sensibilities of the modern world, so her confusion was understandable.

"There must be a label or something!" The Witch, armed with a knife and glaring at the unfinished food as if it would leap and attack if she cease to pay attention to it, cast a glance at Jeanne.

"I can't read!" Jeanne tried to convey her despair in her least panicky voice. She failed badly.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, Jeanne?!" Mashu leaned against the wall, watching what was happening. She wasn't planning to intervene - she was too busy with… other things, yes, things. For example, by watching what was happening.

Jeanne and the Dragon Witch tried to work together - moreover, both were so immersed in their occupation that they still did not notice the leaning girl.

The occasional flickering of a knife in the hands of the Witch, who is currently trying to chop a piece of meat as if it is her worst enemy, was almost fascinating.

"They have no idea how this is done, right?" - Mashu shook her head.

It's not that Mashu herself was much better at it, but while looking at the problems of others it always seemed that you would have done better.

"What kind of beast is this?" The Witch carefully examined the future dish.

"Ainz insisted on using the killed manticore," Jeanne sighed, and then looked at the future breakfast with disbelief, "Although I wonder if a Manticore is edible..."

'I tried to find an adventure - and now the Saint of Orleans and her evil alter ego are cooking me a manticore breakfast…' - Mashu shook her head. Oh yes, it was definitely not how Mashu imagined her adventure... But, it's not like she is opposed to experiencing it...

"Okay, it's seemed we can handle it," after these words, Jeanne still threw the future breakfast into the pan and turned to the Witch, beaming with a huge smile, "You and I are a good team."

"Yeah, of course," the Witch only snorted, and then took a step to the stove, "Well, what's next... Water!"

"Oh," Mashu startled. Water with hot oil is always bad...

A second later, having received a bottle of water from Jeanne, the Witch, not particularly restraining herself, poured a deluge of water into the pan. A second later, the future breakfast responded with exploding blobs of fire that flew out sharply towards the Witch.

"Option..." - Mashu finished the thought to herself.

"SOMETHING IS TRYING TO BURN OUR HOUSE!" Tamamo's scream was the last straw. The Witch, turning around at that moment, abruptly rushed to the entrance.

"I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU NOW!" - Having rushed out from the kitchen, the Witch instantly rushed away.

"They are trying to kill us!" Judging by the intensity of the voice, Tamamo immediately tried to run away, but was not quick enough to escape, "Ay!"

"Ah!" Elizabeth's voice echoed right next to Tamamo, "And why me?!"

"Got in my way!" The Witch's voice answered her instantly.

After that, Mashu took a step out of the shadows, revealing herself to Jeanne.

"Jeanne," the Saint, when she heard Mashu's voice, was startled and turned to face her, after which, instantly assessing the condition of the girl, she smiled.

"How was your sleep?" The girl smiled, after which a moment later the next breakfast hissed again menacingly, almost without water or oil.

Mashu, finding the lid with her eyes, moved towards the pan, ignoring the sprays that were flying from it, and even wishing that she was now in her combat uniform, after which she slammed shut the pan with the future breakfast, "It was nice... But what happened here?"

At these words, Jeanne scratched her head, - "Em... Breakfast?"

Mashu then looked at the mess created by the gale forces of the two girls and shook her head, - "I already understood that. And for what reason?"

"Ainz said that after killing the manticore he had thirty tons of meat…" - Mashu blinked. Thirty tons... Oh ho ho...

"I wanted to try to cook something," Jeanne shrugged uncertainly once more, "Well, try that is..."

Mashu blinked.

"But as Servants we don't really need to eat, no?" Mashu tried to ask a question.

"Indeed," Jeanne nodded slowly, "But... I still wanted to try to cook something..."

Mashu blinked again.

"Alright ..." Mashu sighed. Not that Jeanne had previously shown a love of cooking, but no one had specifically forbidden her to do it, - "And it seems... You have... Some difficulties…"

"Something like that," Jeanne hung her head, after which she looked at Mashu, "Can you help?"

"I'll try," Mashu nodded. Not that she was much better at cooking than the two...

Having taken a step toward the stove, Mashu carefully examined the cooking space, - "I know where the meat came from, but what about everything else?"

"Ingredients from Ainz, he said that he doesn't have the need for them anyway," Jeanne looked at Mashu warily and with some envy, expecting that she was about to do something incredible, "The kitchen was made by Euryale... Medusa was still surprised that Euryale was able to create something like that…"

"I understand her surprise," Mashu nodded, looking at the very modern kitchen. Strange, usually Servants were more or less adapted only for the time at which they were summoned from - or to the information through communication with the Master. But this could only be true for Servants summoned into a Holy Grail War, where the grail would provide the connection and knowledge - so Mashu couldn't say anything confidently on this account, so, most likely, there was nothing to worry about.

"Well, what are you trying to cook?" Mashu asked Jeanne the important question.

"Initially, it was supposed to be a stew with vegetables..." the girl replied with uncertainty, looking at the cooked meat.

"Okay," Mashu sighed, after which she looked at Jeanne, "What spices do we have?"

"Ainz handed out a couple of bottles," Jeanne nodded toward the ominously gleaming phials. This did not inspire confidence - but it was Ainz, he probably knew what he was doing - "He said that he wanted to check something…"

"Um, okay," Mashu nodded, then pointed to a bottle. "What is that?"

"I don't know, probably the sauce," Jeanne sighed, after which, taking it, she moved to the stove, "How much to add?"

"I don't know, try to..." - after a second, the prepared food exploded with another gout of fire, "So we found another bottle of oil!"

Splashes of boiling liquid and fire escaped into the air and Jeanne only miraculously managed to push Mashu away from them, receiving in response the flame destined for the girl.

"Water!" Jeanne rushed instantly.

"Stop!" Mashu tried to shout, but it was too late. The battered piece of meat barely hanging on to its edibleness exploded into a veritable cloud of piping hot steam and fire. Due to her proximity to the stove, Jeanne was covered head to toe in the blinding steam. Due to the force of the explosion and her lack of vision Jeanne fell down with a scream to the ground. Trying futile to hold on to her balance by trying to hold on to something, she instead found purchase on the discarded kitchen knife. Of course the kitchen knife barely scratched the Servant, but the surprise was more than enough.

"The Lord allmerciful!" The girl exclaimed loudly, the closest thing she got to a curse, while Mashu coped with the fire.

"Don't worry, everything is fine, we did it," Mashu gave the breakfast the last honor, covering the rest of the brave breakfast that had been finally burned. He really resisted heroically till the end, - "Simply... Probably, it will be necessary to try again... Given all the mistakes…"

"Yeah," Jeanne, still lying down on the ground, slowly got up, and then looked at what was supposed to be breakfast.

Everything burned to the ground, as if the Lord himself had directed his anger at this unfortunate place... The kitchen. Where Jeanne tried to cook.

"Oh…" - Jeanne shook her head. No, she did expect that she would be proficient in this matter on the first try, but... But she at least expected better.

"Don't worry," Mashu tried to encourage Jeanne, "Just a little bit more practice..."

"Yeah," - the girl looked at the fruit of her labors, and then at Mashu, - "Only... First, we need to clean up…"

"Oh, right," Mashu smiled right away, "Senpai asked me to meet with him and can't linger here..."

"You can't do this to me!" Jeanne looked at the girl imploringly.

"Hmmm, what's that?, I need to help senpai!" Mashu instantly disappeared behind the door.

Jeanne, having to clean up the mess that she had to clean up, sighed and sent a prayer to the Lord, asking Him for strength and patience.

Ainz was deep in thought, he barely paid any mind to the world around him.

What should he do? What not to do? Why does he have to do it? And should he?

"Ah!" The figure crashing into him made him emerge from his thoughts.

"You'll kill me like that someday," Euryale, whom Ainz accidentally knocked down while thinking, rubbed her bruised back, on which she had landed on a second earlier.

"Ah, I'm sorry," Ainz smiled at the girl, while crouching down, after which he held out his hand, helping her to stand up, "Are you hurt?"

"No..." - After a second, the girl sighed, after which, looking around Ainz, she made the most lovable face that she could. And, perhaps, this was enough to melt the ice on any heart in the world - Euryale, the goddess of youth and love and the embodiment of it, knew perfectly well what she should do to be considered cute, - "But you can help me?"

Ainz looked at the girl, blinked, and then shook his head, - "No. Sorry, I'm a little busy."

Unfortunately, Ainz was perhaps the only existing exception to this rule. The charm of Euryale simply did not affect him.

"Ah?" - surprised that for the first time in her life anyone could ignore her, Euryale looked at Ainz in surprise.

Ainz, having walked around the girl, moved on.

His mind, pulled out of its train of thought for a second, returned to its activity.

Servants are just copies of real people. And yet they were not robots. Just like that, Ainz could not discount their existence.

Mashu, Cainabel, Jeanne, the Dragon Witch...

Medusa…

Ainz sighed and shook his head.

His gaze suddenly stumbled upon Cainabel. She moved quietly walking around the house, surprisingly Ainz noticed that Cainabel's path would lead her to collide with Mashu, who was just exiting the house.

"Ah!" As soon as Mashu dodged to not crash into Cainabel, Mashu swayed, almost fell over, flying unexpectedly out of the house. Cainabel calmly opened her umbrella just before Mashu could fly into her, because of which the girl almost fell down. Fortunately, Cainabel was able to change the position of the umbrella, grabbing Mashu before she fell, with the handle of her umbrella. Unfortunately to Mashu she didn't do this out of pure altruism - but because Cainabel found it funny to put the handle of an umbrella under the girl's neck and jerked sharply, causing the girl to cough.

"Be careful," Cainabel sighed, after which, watching Mashu continue to cough, she smiled, "If such a small bug like you continues to get under my feet, you might get trampled upon."

"I-kha-kha-not a bug-kha..." Mashu objected to the girl, trying to cope with her coughing fit.

Ainz, looking at this, thoughtfully shook his head.

Possibly, he did not need to particularly care about such a thing. They were just NPCs in the end...

But still…

"Cainabel," Ainz took a step toward the girl, after which, receiving an inquiring look in response, he sighed, "Be polite."

"Of course, my lord," Cainabel smiled, bowing instantly.

"And apologize to Mashu," Ainz gave another order.

"Oh…" - Cainabel, it would seem, did not expect such an order, but when she received the order, she instantly obliged, - "I'm sorry, Mashu. This will not happen again."

"Aha-kha... I hope so," Mashu frowned at the vampire, while still rubbing her neck.

Ainz, stopping in his tracks, sighed.

"So, are all the Servants ready and assembled?" - After a second, he asked Mashu.

"As best as they possibly can," the girl sighed, then looked at Ainz, "Senpai?"

"Cainabel?" Turning to the vampire, Ainz asked a question. Although, what she's supposed to do has already been finalized, so Cainabel only smiled and bowed, - "In a couple of hours."

"Good," Ainz looked at the unknown black hole that continued to hang in the sky, and then sighed, "In that case... Get ready."

Mashu and Cainabel nodded gravely to him.

Ainz looked up at the sky.

Maybe he did not understand himself, the world around, or the people...

But he had a job to do.

And he was going to deal with it - with all his capabilities. Fast and efficient.

He understood this perfectly.

Mashu, looking at Ainz's stern expression, only nodded gravely. Cainabel smiled predatorily.

It's time to end this Singularity once and for all.

High Tier Immunity: B

Simply put, this skill can block any attack or ability of rank B or lower. Noble Phantasms, spells, skill - there is not much difference for this skill's effect. As long as this skill is active, no effect of rank B or lower can affect the owner of this skill. The attacking ability itself simply does not reach its target, disappearing before its effect could have an effect. However, this skill is not able to cancel the effect if the target is not on the owner itself - although this ability can block any effect over an area around the owner of the skill, leaving several meters of land and air around the owner of the skill under protection. Of course any effects that do not directly target the owner of this skill don't get cancelled out, for instance a buffing skill by a close combatant who is close to the possessor of this skill. While any effects under its threshold is nullified completely it does not mean that any attack over it would be suppressed as well. Any attack of sufficient potency and rank would affect its target fully and would as if this skill does not exist at all. Of course any additional skill that would defend the possessor of the skill from attacks would then come into effect, for instance, Magic Resistance or its Physical counterpart.