17 Battle of Gods (2)

Ainz, now done with his preparations, cast a super-tier spell.

A large amount of magical writing appeared around him as a beam of magic extended from his surroundings into a single immense column of magic, anyone from this world would have found it impossible, but for the Supreme One, such a word has no meaning.

Ainz took out a timer, a cute feminine voice could be heard as Ainz set a timer on it.

"Timer set Ainz-kun~" The guardians would have recognized it as Bukubukuchagama, the supreme being who made Aura, Mare, and one of the three who helped to make Thoth.

Ainz took out an item from his inventory, or rather, multiple.

Each one looks like a thin white metallic stick, one a person could easily snap in their hands if they wanted to, he put them onto his waist between the fabric and belt, which kept them firmly in place.

"Right, let's begin this then!" Ainz took one of them and snapped it in half as he shouted [Skyfall]!"

The spell brought down its full might to bear on the target, and the sky seemed to bend as an immense column of light was brought down onto Thoth.

It eviscerated everything in the area, creating a crater 2 meters deep and 100 meters across, the four smaller angels had to flee away, lest they be eviscerated.

As the light disappeared, Thoth could be seen, his previously white eyes were now pitch black, and even the white in his eyes turned black, leaving him with no pupils to be seen.

"Lord Ainz! That hurt~" he pouted like a sad child.

"I see, seeing how you are acting now, you seem to be intent on fighting."

"I am of course!" Thoth had a smile on his face like he was happy to see an old friend.

"May I ask why?"

"Well, obviously it's-" Thoth froze for a moment, "...Hmm, good question, I don't know, but I do know that I don't have a choice, so there is that."

"I see, I must say, you made it very easy for me to win, effectively taking all of your most powerful tools away."

"Indeed! I did everything I could for Nazarick, but don't worry, I will find a way to kill you. You would be surprised by how easy it is to kill something already dead."

"Well do allow me to resist! [Maximize magic: Reality Slash]!" Ainz slashed the air in front of him, sending a shockwave of reality distortion towards Thoth.

Thoth raised one of his black wings which dispelled the attack, his wings are heavily resistant to all magical attacks, one of the many racial benefits the Seraphim get.

"Haha! It's like we're playing together, but you know... I always break my toys while playing. [Maximize Magic: Soul bind]!"

Ainz felt himself become sluggish, but he resisted the main effects of the spell.

"Hoho! Did you buff yourself before the fight? That is so cheap Lord Ainz~"

Thoth flapped his wings, but as he began to fly, explosions appeared all around him, he braced, tanking the damage head-on.

"Sorry, I cast traps around, why don't you come closer so I can tell you all about them?"

"Haha!" Thoth summoned his spear, "Since you asked so nicely!"

Thoth flapped his wings, despite his lowered stats, he was still incredibly quick, as a result, Ainz barely had any time to react.

Thoth was min-maxed after all, much like Shalltear, he was made to slaughter.

"[Wall of Skeleton]!" Ainz shouted, but Thoth crashed through it and stabbed Ainz with his spear staff.

"Aww, you poor soul. I am not Shalltear Lord Ainz! It will take more than that to trick me!"

"[Greater Holy Smite]!" Thoth shouted as his spear stabbed into Ainz again.

"[Greater teleportation]!" Ainz disappeared just as Thoth slammed his spear into the ground, causing an explosion of divine energy to appear, but Thoth was already prepared for Ainz to dodge.

He turned to where Ainz appeared and cast "[Soul Crush]!" Ainz immediately became disoriented, which Thoth used to his advantage.

"[Greater Mobility] [Angelic Power] [God's Wrath]" Thoth buffed himself as much as he could in the little time he had, but Ainz quickly recovered.

"No, you don't! [Maximize Magic: Reality Slash]!" 

Thoth dodged out of the way, his mobility now enhanced by his spell.

"Man~ You are such a cheater Lord Ainz~ wearing armor specifically designed against positive karma spells!"

"Mmm, it's called a strategy, though I'm sure you already know that."

"Of course I do! Oh oh! That reminds me, I have a bit of a present for you~" An innocent smile blossomed on Thoth's face, a signal that danger was imminent.

"[Summon Greater Crusader]!" Suddenly, from the sky, a holy crusader adorned in glowing white and golden armor descended, it has a silver broadsword in his hands. Its face is without features, but two brilliant points of golden light are where its eyes would be.

The crusader was a level 80 Angelic being, it alone would be enough to cause Ainz some trouble, so Thoth felt more than confident now.

The crusader rushed at Ainz, causing the overlord to retreat.

"I was never meant to fight alone! Why do you think I know so many healing spells!? [Maximize Magic: Hold Person]!" Ainz was suddenly slowed down, but not fully stopped, the crusader took advantage of this and closed the distance, slamming his sword into the skull of the overlord.

From Nazarick, the tension in the air was palpable, everyone watched the battle with smoldering intensity.

"It seems Lord Ainz is in trouble," Shalltear said, her tone worried.

"However, things will work out in the long run," Cocytus added.

"Please enlighten me Cocytus," Demiurge asked, also confused.

"Well, Lord Ainz is trying to reduce Thoth's HP and MP, since Thoth is significantly weaker now, it will be significantly easier to do so, all Lord Ainz needs to do is lower Thoth's HP until he can take him out with one super tier spell."

"So in other words, Lord Ainz still has plenty of resources to spare while Thoth is on thin ice so to say?"

"It is just as you say Demiurge." Cocytus nodded, releasing a cold mist from his nose.

Shalltear understood what the others were saying, but her instincts told her Lord Ainz was in serious trouble now, nonetheless, she decided to wait and see.

She rushed into things once, and this is the result, she must stay calm and observe.

Ainz teleported away from the crusader, buying himself some time.

"[Maximize Magic: True Dark]!" A beam of darkness crashed into the crusader, causing his armor to rust and the light in his "eyes" to dim slightly.

"[Greater Recovery]." Thoth ignored Ainz and the Crusader. He could tell what Ainz's plan was and he wouldn't allow it, so he healed himself.

"You know Lord Ainz, I don't need MP, so I can waste it all on healing spells and still be capable of fighting against you head-on. You on the other hand..." Thoth trailed off as Ainz disappeared.

"Eh?" Thoth looked around confused before he realized what had happened.

"Ohhh, [Perfect Unknowable]? Haha! My stats are too low to see through it, isn't this a bit bad?"

"Oh noooo~ Whatever will I do~" Thoth rolled his eyes, "[True Sight]!" He activated one of his racial abilities which allowed him to see through all invisibility that wasn't considered super-tier magic or world item effects.

He could see Ainz looking at the Crusader with a hand reached out, the other hand was reached out towards Thoth.

Before Thoth could do anything, Ainz cast "[Connect Wounds]!" A spell which would make it so that once the Crusader took damage, Thoth would take the same damage.

"Ooo! How intelligent Lord Ainz!" Thoth canceled his Crusader, it was no longer worth having around with its reckless attacks and damage-tanking tendencies.

Thoth would have loved to simply summon it again, but that's not how it works, the Crusader was now on cool down.

"Thank you for the compliment Thoth, say, aren't you going to check my HP or MP?"

"Haha! You couldn't be more obvious! It is clear you cast false data life spells, I won't bother wasting my resources!"

"Umu, I see, indeed you are as formidable as expected, now then, how about we get serious about this?"

"Sure! If you really want to~" Thoth smiled mischievously, now, Ainz would no doubt try to activate the equipment from the other supreme ones.

Ainz began pulling out one of the small sticks, but just as he was doing so, Thoth teleported over and with his spear, he smashed into Ainz, while Ainz was still recovering from the attack, Thoth grabbed as many as he could.

He managed to take about eight out of 41, decent considering his stats are limited.

Ainz stopped as Thoth placed all of them into his inventory, a small grin still on his face.

"What? I thought we got serious. Lord Ainz~ This is a fight between us two~ The others can't save you from you from ME!" Thoth charges at Ainz again, who summoned a "[Wall of Skeletons]!" in response.

Thoth didn't crash through, instead, he flew above it and cast "[True Light]!" causing the overlord to scream in pain.

Ainz's skull showed a crack now, his health was running low.

"[True Dark]!" Ainz cast in response, making Thoth stiffen up, he kept a scream in, though black blood started to pour out of his nose now.

Normally, an angel's blood was golden, but since he fell, it was now black. In the lore it said that angel tears and blood could heal, if that was true now, Thoth didn't know.

He tasted it, but he felt no effects, maybe his falling canceled its effects, but he had no way to test that theory.

Ainz cast "[The Fate of All Life is Death]!" Seeing Thoth in a weakened state and believing himself to be damaged enough now.

A black clock with golden numbers and golden hands pointing at the time could be seen behind Ainz, it moved with him, as if it was following death itself.

Thoth widened his eyes in surprise and teleported to the other end of the crater, he couldn't go further, something in his mind was preventing him from getting further away.

"Shit!" He sounded fully serious now, cause he was in serious trouble.

Ainz appeared behind him so Thoth took flight, keeping his distance with superior mobility while spamming as many healing spells as he could.

He dodged the spells Ainz threw at him as he ran as well as he could, though they still clipped him occasionally.

After a few more seconds, a loud encompassing bell noise could be heard from the clock behind Ainz.

The entire area was covered in white light, Thoth pressed his wings around him, hoping, praying even, that he wouldn't die.

After a few seconds, Ainz could be seen standing in a desert, all of the servants of Nazarick were evacuated before the battle, and the four small angels also fled no doubt.

As Ainz was finally letting out a sigh of relief, he noticed a black circle suddenly move in the sand.

Thoth shook all of the sand off of him, his face looked pale and his wings twitched in pain as he moved, but he managed to survive.

"[Greater Heal] [Maximum Restoration] [Spring of Life]" He cast three spells, two for healing and one for increased regeneration.

He looked a lot better now, though he was still clearly hurt.

"Now then Lord Ainz, I believe we should continue!"

"[Maximized Magic: Purge Evil]!" Ainz's skull cracked more, but unlike Thoth, he had no way to heal, healing magic only hurt him more as an undead.

Ainz reached down, but before he could crack one of the stick-like objects, Thoth appeared in front of him, he again slammed into him with his spear, causing Ainz to go flying, just like that, he lost ten more of his supply.

"What is wrong Lord Ainz? Are you hurt? Do you want me to heal your boo-boo?"

Ainz teleported away, out of range for any healing spells.

"Aww, look who is a strong boy~ Not wanting any help~"

In Nazarick, the guardians were starting to feel concerned.

"Cocytus, are you sure everything is still alright?" Demiurge asked, even Albedo could be seen with a concerned look on her face.

Shalltear didn't wait anymore, she grabbed Albedo's finger with the ring of Ainz Ooal Gown and ripped the ring off while Albedo was focused on Cocytus, she jumped away from Albedo, equipped the ring, and teleported away.

Thoth, who just teleported and was about to slam into Ainz again, suddenly felt a chill go up his spine, he turned around, only to see nothing.

'Aura huh, why did she take so long to help Ainz? The guy is on his last legs HP-wise, and his backup has failed him.'

"Hah... Lord Ainz, it was an honor!" Thoth pointed a finger at Lord Ainz and cast "[Purge of All Evil]!" as he did however, Shalltear appeared without her battle armor, taking the damage instead of Lord Ainz.

"Shalltear!? How did you get here?" Thoth didn't detect her, which meant she must have teleported here.

Shalltear turned to Lord Ainz, a small smile on her face.

"I'm sorry I'm late Lord Ainz."

Ainz hasn't been speaking because he was in severe pain, and he still is, Thoth, despite his clothing designed to go against him, had made him feel suffering he never felt before, so up until now, he completely shut off his vocal cords, not that he had any.

Now though, he wasn't worried anymore, for a second, he thought that would be it, but his Guardians had come to save him, just like his friends did all those years ago.

He pushed through the pain and spoke, "You are just on time Shalltear, thank you." Ainz nodded, Shalltear didn't give him the insane grin he would have normally given, instead, Ainz got a polite smile and a nod.

Shalltear no longer felt so obsessed, and with this, her obsession disappeared, Lord Ainz lost, he was greater than them all, he was their God, but even he needed them, just as they needed him.

The realization was freeing, it was a feeling of euphoria, the realization her master still needed her, just as she and the others needed him, that she wasn't worthless, that she was appreciated.

It wasn't a one-way relationship as she thought, the Supreme Beings appreciated their work like the guardians appreciated their guidance, Shalltear felt like all her work was worth something now, not that she didn't before.

It all made Shalltear want to cry tears of joy, and they welled up in her eyes, though she ignored them and focused on Thoth, who looked at her confused.

"You know Thoth, thank you, I learned a lot thanks to you." She smiled a little at him, it was all thanks to him she learned so much after all.

"..." Thoth made the tiniest of genuine smiles inside, though nobody noticed it as it was hidden deep beneath the world items influence.

Shalltear rushed at Thoth, she didn't have her weapon, but she didn't need it.

With raw strength, she grabbed Thoth, who tried to flee but was cut off by Lord Ainz and his magic.

Shalltear slammed Thoth into the ground, and with him helpless to resist, she bit her fangs into his neck, reducing his HP at a rapid rate while reducing his stats.

Thoth struggled vehemently, he cast spell after spell, but Shalltear was relentless, the two of them were considered the best fighters in the Tomb after all, but his specialty wasn't strength, that was Shalltear.

And so, as the world became dark, Thoth stopped struggling and accepted his fate.

As he was knocked unconscious, he could hear the other the others shouting as they appeared before Lord Ainz, a certain succubus bawling her eyes out.

-x-x-x-

Just letting you know I have decided to keep Cocytus talking normally, sorry, I tried all the possible ways and each one was ANNOYING AS HELL to write, especially the goddamn dots, so sorry, but for my well-being, I will have none of that.

Also, I hope you like the chapter, tbh I'm a bit worried it didn't live up to your expectations considering the hype, so your opinions about it would be awesome, thank you for reading my book and...

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