Chapter 1: Born ( Final part )
The great tomb of nazarick
As he returns from his little skirmish with the battle maids, Adel passes through one of the many hallways in Nazarick in order to get to his father.
"Who's that?" One of the maids ask her companion in a small but curious voice
"Maybe he's one of the new workers. He's got to be if he could get pass all the security after all." The other replied.
"I never thought a human could be this handsome?" The first maid commented in a dreamy voice.
"Hoo? You like him? Hahaha"
"No!"
While more of a nuisance for Adel than an actual gift, the reason for the maid being attracted to him was simply one of the benefits of being an imp. This was further enhanced as took many of his physical features from his alleged mother, Albedo, who was a beauty herself.
Despite his incredibly good looks, one such as himself didn't believe that love was very significant. Not only was he not prepared for it, he was in a situation that warranted his full attention at all times so dedicating himself to an actual relationship was not something he could do.
I must make myself valuable.
I must not be a burden to Nazarick.
I must stand on my own legs.
I must not be worthless.
Adel repeats the familiar mantra and steps into the grand throne room that his father currently sits in.
Obviously father informed the guards if they're just allowing me to pass but I don't see any in the actual room
At the focal point of the room seated on a highly intricate and awe-inspiring throne was his father who held a regal posture that only demonstrated his identity as a ruler and solidified his position above the rest of the denizens of Nazarick.
By his side was a black winged women who was none other than his 'mother' Albedo and kneeling before them appeared to be Yuri.
Quite obviously they had all been watching his fight.
After a few steps, Yuri quickly glanced behind her with a face full of remorse and guilt.
"I'm so sorry Adel-sama for my sister's transgressions! It can't be forgiv—" Yuri was halfway through her apology before her superior interrupted her.
"Yuri. I believe we had already talked about this." Albedo said.
"m—my apologies Albedo-sama" Yuri quickly said before bowing her head.
"Albedo! I thought I had asked Yuri to not apologise however if she felt the need to it would be allowed. Am I wrong?" Ainz scolded his guardian overseer without glancing at her.
"Yes, that is true Ainz-sama" Albedo replied
"It's not your sister's fault Yuri-sama, the fault is mine. If I had recognised it faster it wouldn't have ended up like this" Adel apologised as his voice was laced with guilt.
"I already forgave you didn't I?" His father's calm voice came, soothing Adel's emotional wounds from his first mission being a failure.
"As you have said father, I'm truly grateful" Adel responded in kind.
"Good. Now, I should tell you why I didn't stop the Pleiades…"
.
.
.
.
" A test!?" Adel exclaimed both out of confusion as well as surprise.
"Indeed. I was about to use a gate to stop you and Pleiades however I realised that testing your skills and tactics with the Pleiades would a better choice so I kept watching. That was, until the teleportation happened"
"Other than Yuri, do the other maids know of this?" Adel asked.
"No."
"So neither the maids nor knew about this"
Ainz obviously felt some sort of guilt through putting his son through such a trial, especially because he was created not so long ago however he wanted him to gain some experience in working within the new world.
The secondary objective was to gauge the powers his child possessed which he failed to think of any other alternatives. This also meant the other combatants could know of his true identity as they would hold back which wouldn't generate the results he that opportunity has come.
"I'm sorry Ade—"
"That's so cool!" Adel said.
"What?" Ainz said.
"yo—you're not angry?" Ainz asked as he was left baffled with his response.
"No way! I've heard many acknowledge you as a wise king. Even so, I didn't expect your plan to be so deeply thought out!" Adel exclaimed in admiration.
"Oh, well that's..good, I guess."Ainz mumbled the last few words.
"What is your plan now father?" Adel asked with childish glee.
"Umu..it seems like you're now a terrorist."
"I—know that father" Adel replied dejectedly.
"That's the point. As of now, I will claim that you were found to be a secret spy from the slain theocracy. I will arrange for the fight to take place in a battlefield which I have prepared for you so there's no need to worry about that"
"I have no complaints however, will I be fighting all of the Pleiades father?"
"Indeed, except of course Aureole Omega."
"yea.. I agree with that too" Adel said
"Uh..Ainz-sama I have a—a question" Yuri asks in a quiet voice.
"Yes?"
"W—will I need to fight Adel-sama too?"
"Yes, you will."
Yuri begins to internally panic at the thought of fighting and possibly harming her master's son.
Seeing her reaction, Ainz makes her an offer.
"If this is too much of a burden, I will erase memories of Adel until now if that would put you at ease."
"NO!…I mean..uh…please don't…please Ainz-sama" Yuri began to plead with Ainz to not take away her memory.
"Instead, how about I keep a close on eye on the young master and if I feel that he can't handle anymore, I stop the fight."
"Do you truly believe your sister would stop?" Ainz asked.
Needless to say, Yuri did not reply and instead, chose to look at the ground.
"Ainz-sama." Albedo said
"Hmm?"
"I'm sorry for interrupting but shouldn't we be primarily concerned with Adel's safety." The concerned motherly tone of her voice didn't go unnoticed by anyone in the room.
"I want to see my son's full power, Albedo"
"Very well, Ainz-sama" Albedo replied although it was clear she didn't like the course he was taking.
"Alright, while I won't take your memory, I expect you to fight your hardest and should the need arise, prevent your sisters from doing any significant damage to Adel."
While he understood their concerns, Ainz knows that he can only test his son under such gruelling conditions in order to obtain the best results, acknowledging that sheltering his son from every possible encounter which does not guarantee his success nor safety is bad for him in the long run. Many noble children being prime examples of that.
"My deepest thanks, Ainz-sama."
"The test will be begin tomorrow, keep yourself ready Adel." Ainz orders
"Understood"
That being said, Ainz and Albedo left the throne room to go over the preparations, leaving both Adel and Yuri alone in silence.
"Uh…ah…Adel-sama" Yuri stutters.
"Yes?"
"I'm so sorry about my sister again. I know they deserve to be punished after this test but please have mercy on them" Yuri begged and hung her head low.
"Oh…ah…there's no need to say sorry Yuri-sama. It was my mistake which caused this."
Adel didn't want the other's to be punished, especially because of his own failures.
"Uh—Adel-sama. I see you went to work at the village." Yuri said.
"What do you think of humans?"
"Well, if they don't irritate me or work to harm Nazarick, I don't believe there's anything wrong with them" Adel answered
Yuri sighed.
Was my answer not good enough?
"I want my sister's to have the same attitude you do, Adel-sama"
"Why would you think that?" Adel said
"Most of my sister's hate human's. Adel-sama I'm worried that they might do something to you" yuri is now wondering.
"Lupusregina hates human's? Oh…That's why I felt strange when I first met her."
"Really?" Yuri asked curiously
"I felt like she was hiding something. It was as if the smile she wore was just like a mask" Adel said.
"Indeed, unfortunately Lupusregina is truly a sadistic girl who loves to make friends, betrayed them and torture them"
"Oh…I—Is that really true?"
"It is true however that was how she was created so I can't argue with that. But, I'm only telling you this so you won't suffer the same fate many other's do."
"My thanks, Yuri-sama." Adel says while bowing in respect.
" Adel-sama!" Yuri yells.
"W—what?"
"It is inappropriate to call me that! Please acknowledge me as just Yuri from now on." Yuri begins to scold her young master
"okay..okay..Yuri-sa—Yuri. No need to yell at me."
"My sincere apologies Adel-sama, forgive me for what I had just said." Yuri quickly adds and bow's in apology.
As a result of his relaxed personality, Yuri slowly began to talk to Adel as if he were one of her sisters instead of appropriately addressing him as her master.
"Please, I'm just joking. I like this level of conversation Yuri-sa—Yuri. I feel it's much more likeable."
"You don't…m—mind?" Yuri asked, unsure of whether Adel meant what he said or not.
"Yep. I want to have a better relationship with all of the Pleiades." Adel said
"By the way Adel-sama, when you were at Carne-village was there something on your mind? You seemed quite stressed" Yuri said
"Um…"
Yuri noticed his sudden change in mood.
"I—I need to work hard Yuri. Everyone in Nazarick was doing their work so it would be a shame if I sit here and not do anything." Adel said although it was more of a complaint.
"I don't want myself to be a burden to you all. I mean…Father lost three important items to create me, Yuri. I need to work harder in order to repay him for what he lost"
"Adel-sama"
"I—I'm, afraid Yuri.I'm afraid that if my secret is revealed everyone would hate would look at me like I'm worthless, a mistakes that father has made. I fear that they will be hate me because they believe I don't deserve to be the son of the Ainz Ooal Gown. I don't want them to be jealous nor do I wish to be viewed as someone they despise for even existing." Adel's voice wavers as he talks to Yuri.
Adel is depressed as no-one can understand how he feels as well as the pressure that is placed upon him. Despite being their leaders son, the burden placed o him won't make his life easy.
His father has placed so much trust in him, he can't afford to make a mistake. He couldn't disappoint anyone, especially the man who gave up so much for him. After all, compared to the greatness of his father, Adel truly was nothing.
As he slowly lost himself to his own self-pity, two pale hands pulled him back to reality. Opening his eyes, Adel saw the figure lean into him and pull him closer before wrapping their arms around him in a cool yet warm embrace.
Is this what they called encouragement?
"Yuri?" Adel muttered
"Do your best Adel-sama, we won't hate you."
"Myself as well as all of Nazarick's servants will never ignore you…Adel-sama, please don't worry"
"T—thank you..Yuri." Adel urged himself to speak those few words before returning the embrace as fiercely as he could and allowing his feelings of anxiety to drift away…
.
.
.
.
.
The night prior to his son's examination, Ainz went over the final details of his plan. Hearing a creak, he looks up to see one of his homunculus maids entering the room.
Hang on…I didn't call for her
"Hm?"
"Did I call you?" Ainz asked the homunculus.
Usually no one could come into Ainz's office if he didn't allow them.
But this homunculus came in without Ainz's permission?
The maid was either considerably suspicious or was just incredibly brave.
"I said, did I call y—" Ainz was cut off mid sentence by the spectacle unfolding in front of him.
The air surrounding the maid began to flicker, as if dancing to a song with strange hissing noises accompanying them. The homunculus' image began to blur and the figure quickly lost all of it's features before being replaced by new ones. As if it were all a dream, it became much clearer and the initial flickering began to subside, leaving a familiar face in it's place.
That homunculus was Adel!
"Ho? You can disguise yourself too?" Ainz asked.
"Yes, father."
"So, what bring's you here?"
"Yes." Adel replied before putting his hand into his pocket and began fishing for something. After a good ten-second struggle, he procured s a small cylindrical device that had tiny sticks attached on the top.
If his soilder-otaku friend were here, he would've called it a "flashbang".
But Ainz needed to make sure.
"Adel, what is this?"
" I've heard from Yuri that Albedo has attempted to rape you on multiple occasions so—"
What the hell!? Why would Yuri tell him about this!?
I had honestly forgotten about that but now I just feel bad that he actually knows about this.
"She just lost her control Adel, that's all there was too it" Ainz interrupted although it was just like he wanted to avoid letting his son demonstrate how much he knew that had happened.
"I've invented this for you."
"What does it do?"
"I built this for you to protect yourself father, I think if Albedo-sama may do it again. You can use this thing to protect yourself instead of hitting her. If you pull the stick out, it will emit a cluster of light that will stun its target" Adel explained.
So it really was a flashbang!
"However, knowing that she has the highest defensive capabilities in Nazarick, I modified it specifically to be used against her."
"Will this hurt her in any way?"
"No, father. It will stun her to give you a chance to escape and call for help."
"I made two of them you know?" Adel said.
Well, it looks like it could work but,
when did he find the time to make this?
"When did you make this?" Ainz said, observing the small device in his skeletal hand.
"This evening, after I finished my conversation with Yuri." Adel said.
"Hmmm, what did you talk about?"
"It was just general chit-chat…" Adel replied.
.
.
.
.
The great tomb of nazarick –Throne room- the next day.
As the Pleiades filed into the throne room, the serious mood that had settled over it was palpable. Standing in a perfectly straight line, they awaited their overlord to make his entrance.
As the large doors swung open, Ainz proceeded by Albedo entered and began to their way to his throne, each maid bowing their head as he passed. What they weren't aware of was the now invisible Adel, pursuing closely behind his father.
Taking his seat, Ainz announced in a calm yet calculating tone
"Do any of you know why I've called for you today?"
"Yes, Ainz-sama." Lupusregina answered.
"Is that so?"
While Narberal and Solution had heard about the incident and Entoma and Cz had actually been involved in the incident, it seemed Lupusregina was the most willing to answer Ainz's questions.
"It was my foolish mistake, Ainz-sama! To let that traitor escape was a—" just as she tried to explain her failure, her master held up his hand and she immediately ceased speaking.
"While you have let him escape, I am not going to punish you."
"Heh?" Lupusregina said dumbfounded.
"I have a different reason for summoning you here." Ainz turned to Albedo and nodded to indicate her turn to speak.
"Ainz-sama would like for you to make amends for your failures by seeking out and bringing the traitor back to him. What he doesn't realise is that Ainz-sama has already predicted and known exactly where he would hide. Our target's most foolish mistake was believing he could outrun the supreme one.
"Woah…" sounds of admiration as well as praise echoed throughout the room, primarily from the maids standing before Ainz.
—Meanwhile—
Though Ainz can't actually see him, he signals his son to leave by lightly tapping his skeletal finger on one of the arm rests of his throne.
Adel acknowledging this, lightly steps out of the room.
As he passes the maids, Lupusregina's ear's perk up as if she could feel someone in her presence.
Is there someone else here?
.
.
.
Meh, I guess it's just my imagination.
Rushing out of the room, Adel makes his way to a nearby empty room that his father had prepared for him by altering guard patrol routes. Opening the door, he steps in and closes it in a silent fashion. Finally he walks over to a small container placed in the poorly-lit room and opens it to obtain a single scroll. Unrolling it and throwing it into the air, his body vanishes before reappearing at another location.
This place looks oddly similar to the stadium on the sixth floor…
.
.
.
.
.
"And so, that is the plan." Albedo said after explaining it to the Pleiades.
"Do any of you have any questions?" Ainz asks.
"Uh, m—m—me." Narberal stuttered
"What question might you have?"
"Are we to kill him or take him alive?"
"While I have no interest in insects such as him, I would like him to be brought back alive at least. "
"Understood." the Pleiades replied.
They all seem so confident, well all except Yuri that is.
Adel doesn't seem to be very confident in his abilities so this fight should be quite interesting I hope.
In order to make the plan more reliable, Ainz gave the Pleiades information he had 'gained from research' on Adel so that they would be able to fight him more appropriately and make the fight harder for him.
The fight was to take place in an area that was reminiscent of the amphitheatre on the sixth floor albeit many countermeasure's were put in place to prevent unwanted observation.
This ensured that potential enemies couldn't observe Adel's abilities or even know of his existence entirely. Though his abilities were powerful, that meant that he would be singled out and targeted as soon as the enemy caught wind of what he could do, something Ainz could not afford to happen.
.
.
.
.
As the girls made their way to the location, Cz noticed that her eldest sister was acting rather strangely.
"Are you ok Yuri-nee?"
"Yeah, it's like your minds somewhere else so what are you thinking?" Entoma chimed.
"N—no! I was just wondering how strong he was! Uh—if he can infiltrate into nazarick, then he should have some skill."
"Don't worry Yuri-nee, I'm going to make sure he can't escape by crushing his legs. Next, I'll be sure to slowly break each individual bone in his fingers and then tear off those filthy hands of his for defiling my crosier. Afterwards I'll— " Lupusregina described the many ways she would make Adel suffer for his actions.
Knowing the full truth, Yuri felt a surge of anger within her and a need to appropriately punish her sister with silverware however she slowly breathed in and out before sighing. Unfortunately this was all necessary for her master's plan so all she could do was bear with it for however long she could.
.
.
.
.
.
Stepping out of the [gate] that was cast by their master, the Pleiades cautiously analysed their surroundings with a calculating gaze, ensuring to observe every feature they could see.
The atmosphere was eerily silent save for the crunching of footsteps on the grassland beneath them. The silence seemed to be only intensified by the large shadow that was cast by the tall pillars of the open-air venue they found themselves in.
"Solution, Shizu" Yuri broke the silence.
As if they had been telepathically communicating prior, both nod their heads before proceeding to fulfil their roles.
Cz perches herself on a high platform towards the centre and begins to use a tracking skill and Solution heads into the grandstand to move through the smaller spaces that the others would find hard to traverse.
"No sign of him" solution's voice calls.
" . .Him" Cz reported.
Bang!
A loud shriek tears through the calm atmosphere.
Narberal's mind registers the shot and she responds by flying out of it's trajectory in
"Show yourself Mas—Mister! Drop the weapon and surrender yourself or we will have to take you to Ainz-sama using brute force."
.
.
.
.
.
—( Prior to the first shot)—
Perched upon one of the many pillars that littered the battleground, Adel rechecks his sniper rifle to see if it's in fully working order despite having checked it numerous times. Adel couldn't help but be anxious at the thought of fighting the maids, particularly Yuri who was very close to him. The rifle he held was no ordinary one, but a weapon similar to the one wielded by the maid Cz Delta however it could not be used to the same effect.
Looking through the scope, he sees a figure run into the stands before suddenly loosing its shape and turning into what appeared to be a small puddle. Said puddle then began to travel through the tiny cracks in order to get to the other side of the monotonous grey structure.
So this is how the Pleiades work! They're so cool!
Even from up here I can feel them exude an aura of strength, this surely won't be easy.
Adel steady's himself and directs his focus to Narberal Gamma. While he could potentially do significant damage to her, the point of the exercise was to test his fighting capabilities against multiple opponents. Not only this but his skills and abilities meant that his capacity to injure let alone hit a target such as Narberal were slim. Trying as a melee-based fighter to contend with a ranged opponent in a firefight wasn't a matchup in his favour however his shot could surely give him quite an interesting entry.
Pulling the trigger, the small projectile left the barrel and ultimately hit nothing but the dusty ground of the venue.
"Good morning ladies, it seems that I underestimated your ability to find me" Adel greeted politely.
Though she was some distance away, Cz could easily identify what weapon he was holding.
"He's an automaton." She observed in a flat tone.
"Hm? How did you know?" Solution said.
"His weapon."
"Oh, I see." Lupusregina beta added.
"No matter, we still have our orders." Narberal announced while readying herself to spring into action.
"Do you mind if I ask you one question?"Entoma said to Adel.
"Y—yeah, sure" Adel said.
"Which part of your body is the most delicious?"
Is she trying to scare me or is just curious?
Adel feels the killing intent from the Pleiades.
Taking a gulp he answers;
"W—well, I think my left hand."
"Oh, nice."
"I guess I know which part I'll be saving for last!" Entoma breaks out in a sprint armed with two bug blades.
Taking this as their cue, each member of the Pleiades readies themselves for combat. Yuri and Lupusregina flank Entoma on either of her sides while Narberal casts [fly] and prepares her magic from above and Cz begins providing covering fire for her advancing sisters. This wasn't to mention the form of Solution who circled around their target and was slowly pressing towards him outside of his field of vision.
As Entoma swings, Adel pounces on her and springboards off her body in the hopes of reaching Narberal who was hovering over them.
"Tsk, foolish human…" Narberal remarks.
"[Chain Dragon Lightning]" Narberal casts her lightning spell at him.
However
The spark is absorbed by his left hand.
"I—Impossible" Narberal stuttered.
Because Chain Dragon Lightning is a seventh tier spell, her opponent should have easily been slain but instead, he seemed to have caught it.
"He's the same level as Shalltear-sama?" Narberal said.
Adel pulls his fist close to his body before punching it forward as quickly as possible, resulting in the energy being shot right back at Narberal who manages to dodge it and flies back, now wary of her opponent being able to seemingly redirect her attacks.
As Adel plummets to and lands on the ground he is greeted by the force of not three but four maids. With Yuri making the vanguard followed by Solution and Entoma at her sides and Lupusregina with her crosier raised high behind them.
As Adel readies himself he is surprised to see that the three at the front faint and instead move to surround him while Lupusregina attempts to strike him with an overhead smash.
Adel counters by dodging the strike while simultaneously using his left hand to catch one of Entoma's arms and his right leg to kick Yuri in the stomach as she was about to punch him. Demonstrating an absurd amount of skill, Adel then begins to disengage from the three and pulls a fast jab at Solution who is behind him however his fist becomes stuck inside a warm, moist body.
Her prey looking into her eyes, Solution saw a man who was both frightened and yet also subtly guilty. While this was quite peculiar, the passing thought was ignored as quickly as it came and she focused on her fight.
Solution pulls Adel towards her and throws a right hook to his face before using the momentum she had built to spin her body and Adel around so that Cz could fire a few shots at his joints to immobilise him.
While her shots hit their target, they failed to hit their intended spots on him and instead hit his back.
Adel managed to break free of the hold and using another consumable given to him by his father, vanished from their vision.
"Where'd he go?" Yuri asked
"I don't know" solution said
"He could use that skill of his again, be aware that he is capable of transporting us to a different location!"
While her fears were true, Adel had no such intention given how his father wished to see his capabilities as a fighter however he was unfortunately in a sticky situation and had to utilise one of the scrolls Ainz had given him for emergencies.
"He's over there!" Entoma called.
Some distance away stood the man in question, nursing his chin with his hand in response to his exchange with Solution.
However, it would seem that he would get no respite as a smiling Lupusregina had already pounced and was quickly zeroing in on him, crosier in hand.
It would seem that the Pleiades were more excited than angry at this situation, probably because their need to face a worthy opponent had reached its limit. Obviously the same could not be said for Yuri who wasn't as enthusiastic about the fight as her younger siblings.
Adel uses his left arm to block her crosier and his other to catch her other.
"And what would you be smiling at, miss Beta?" Adel said while taking a leap back to avoid Narberal's lightning as well as Cz's bullets.
"Ah, I've never had this fun before" lupusregina beta replied while repeatedly swinging her weapon at Adel.
So this is the sadistic side that Yuri mentioned.
Ducking under Lupusregina's previous swing, Adel sidesteps the two maids behind her and activates one of his skills.
I need to do something to ensure the Pleiades don't take the advantage.
"[SILENT HILL]"
The atmosphere within the arena darkened and was covered by a thick curtain of fog.
"What is this?" Entoma said.
"I can't see!" lupusregina cried.
"Na-chan! You alright?" Lupusregina asked her flying sister.
"I'm sorry… But his fog is blocking my vision" Narberal said as she descended.
"We need to regroup! Cz! Come back from there!" Yuri's [message] rang to the others.
Due to her position, Cz would take the longest to make her way to the group.
"…." There was no reply from Cz.
"Cz?" Yuri repeated her order.
"…."
"Cz?"
"Yes." Cz finally replied.
"Get back here and group up!" Yuri thought louder than she intended.
"…Understood."
"Why did you replay so late?" Yuri asked
"The fog may delay even [message] communication" Cz replied in an oddly slow manner.
"I thought Automatons were supposed to be weak in melee" solution said.
"That obviously doesn't seem to be the case" Yuri said with a hint of pride.
"Cz, are you sure, that he's an automaton?" Entoma asked.
Instead of a reply, her question was met with the sound of rifle fire.
"What is it?!" Yuri said
"He's over there." Cz said pointing the direction with her rifle aimed.
"My heat detector can track him"
"So he thought he could use his fog to get near us? Foolish insect." Narberal said.
"Hahaha, pathetic! Why don't you stop hiding and face us you coward!" Lupusregina cried while sprinting in Adel's direction.
"W—wait! Lu—" Yuri tried to stop her sister however it seemed her words fell on deaf ears as all she could hear was the sound of maniacal laughter which faded into the thick curtain of darkness. In quick succession, each sister began to follow and disappear into the fog, leaving Yuri behind.
As she runs to catch up, she comes across her sisters surrounding something.
"Y—Y—Yuri-nee" Entoma stuttered.
"Filthy insect" Narberal remarked with disdain.
"Wait…what happened?" Yuri asked
Her question was answered by the sight of the form of Cz lying on the ground.
A million questions raced through her head however she knew that Adel wouldn't have seriously hurt her sister so she tried to stay in her role as distressed as the others.
"CZ! What happened to her?!" Yuri asked.
"It looks like she's just sleeping. Her rifle isn't here and her HP is full but when I tried to wake her up, she didn't respond" lupusregina said.
"Could he have used a disguise?" Entoma asked.
"So that means the Cz who grouped up with us is the fake one." Yuri concluded.
"God dammit! Fuck!" Lupusregina roared while pacing around with her hands behind her head to calm herself.
"Clearly he isn't like the easier enemies we have faced previously." Yuri said even though she knew it all along.
"He can absorb my lightning…Yuri-nee, he must be the same level as Shalltear-sama." Narberal said
"Maybe we need to use our true form to beat him." Narberal said
"Then what should we do with Cz? Yuri-nee, I've tried all my healing spells, but she's not waking up." Lupusregina said in exhaustion.
"We should keep her in Solution's body until when we get back to Nazarick"
"Wait…" Narberal said.
"Where's Solution?"
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Solution ran straight after Entoma, unable to see her through the fog but following the sound of her crazed sister was enough.
As she ran, she was stopped by the small hand of Cz grabbing hers.
"Hmm? What's wrong Cz?" Solution asked.
Looking into Cz's only visible eye, she felt fear. While she only ever considered the supreme beings and floor guardians capable of instilling fear in her, the look in her sisters eyes sent chills through her body.
"Shizu?"
Cz did not reply.
"Wait…You're not Cz"
Solution attempted to flee.
However;
It happened in a milli-second. Solution tries to call for her sisters however no sound escapes her mouth. Not only that, her body refused to resume its slime form to escape, instead she falls to the ground and goes limp.
Just like a paralysis patient.
"[KNOCKING]" Cz said.
As she commanded, the air around her flickered around her and the figure in front of her disappeared and reappeared in a new body.
"This won't take long." Adel said.
Walking to her body like a predator going in for the kill, Solution can only glare in anger at the man in front of her.
What is he going to do with me?!
Dammit! I can't move!
Her last thoughts race through head as a sharp pain pierces her head and the vision she once had goes dark.
.
.
.
—Prior to Solution's defeat—
.
[SILENT HILL] Adel calls and the pleiades immediately attempt to retain their composure as 'fog' settles over the arena.
Unbeknownst to them, [SILENT HILL] was more of mind control type skill.
While it doesn't necessarily change anything physically, it manipulates the victims brain into seeing what the user wants them to within a seven kilometre range.
In essence, it was basically a fancy illusion skill that could only affect opponents below lever 70.
Unfortunately for victims, the skill was effective enough to bypass items which possessed the ability to prevent mind control as it would simply target the opponents brain.
It affects the temporal lobe responsible for hearing and smell as well as the occipital lobe which is responsible for sight.
In saying this, the 'fog' that the pleiades were witnessing was nothing more than an image generated by their own mind, a hallucination.
The drawback to the skill was that beings such as automatons were unaffected hence Adel prioritising neutralising Cz first.
Now using [ABSOLUTE INVISIBILITY], Adel ran through the grandstand in order to find Cz.
Using his [animal instinct], he locatedthe cloaked maid in a similar fashion to their earlier encounter however unlike before, his father won't interrupt him.
Nearing the target, he releases his [absolute invisibility] skill so that he can actually take her down. The reason for this was that the skill in question prioritises stealth over anything else so while using it, so the user wouldn't be able to deal any physical damage to their opponents.
Rushing as quickly as possible to close the distance between them, his target seems to have realised and turns around.
While she has become aware of his presence, it was unfortunately too late to fire her weapon so instead the maid uses her rifle as a makeshift shield to block his attack.
Only barely blocking the attack, Cz dashes back in order to widen the gap between them and give her a clear shot at her attacker.
As she is about to pull the trigger however, Adel swiftly follows through his assault by grabbing her rifles muzzle and pushing it away from him. Continuing his attack, he punches her wrist in his imp form in order to disarm her.
As this all unfolds, all Cz can look at is the red gaze her opponent looks at her with.
While his face held no emotion, passion roared through his heated glare.
Ainz-sama?
Cz finds that her wrist is separated from her arm however due to being an automaton, she fails to display show her emotions.
Who is he?
"[KNOCKING]"
Adel drives his fist into Cz's stomach and she feels the many mechanical systems within her begin to cease working.
Falling to the ground, all she can do is watch on and simply anticipate her certain demise.
She flashes back to Nazarick, her sister's, everyone.
Will she die in action?
While it was glorious to die in battle for the supreme one, to have her death result in the failure of her mission was nothing more than a disgrace.
Adel pilfers through her lost hand and short circuits it.
A voice message from Yuri orders her to regroup with the rest of them.
While she tries to scream out, it would seem that her efforts are worthless.
Like a child caught trapped in a magical mirror, all she can do is attempt to call for her parents but it will all be to no avail. It was simply useless. Pointless. Worthless.
Adel draws near to her face and softly touches her cheek.
In that instant, the air around him warps and pixelated squares engulf his body before her reappears entirely as a new entity.
Cz felt like she was staring into a mirror because was she saw was herself.
Drawing close to her ear, the imposter answers Yuri.
"Yes."
Cz hears her own voice instead the sound does not leave her mouth but the other's.
Not only has he defeated her, he's stolen her identity!
"Get back from there, we need to group up!" Yuri said.
"Understood."
As Adel finished the conversation, Shizu was surprised when he reattached her hand to her arm
What're they doing?
"I'm sorry"
"[Greater Lethal]"
With that, the many circuits and wires in her wrists began to reattach themselves and soon, her injury was completely repaired.
It was common knowledge that perhaps healing one's enemy is one of the most stupid things to do on a battlefield.
"Get ready for a long sleep Cz-sama." Fake Cz said
Before Cz could respond, she was knocked unconscious by [KNOCKING].
.
.
.
.
.
.
(Present time)
"Solution! Solution!"Narberal tries to connect to solution by [Message]
But there's no response.
"That filthy parasite! I'll singe a hole right through his heart."
With that statement the pleiades minus Yuri were all beyond pissed off and out for blood.
While they all wanted nothing more than to charge through the fog and rip through whatever they could find, they knew their opponent aimed to take them out one by one so staying as a single group should reduce that from happening.
"Narberal" Yuri said
"Yes? Yuri-nee."
"Could you release your [lightning] up in the sky? Perhaps the light it projects could be of use in this fog."
In fact, Narberal would have preferred firing her lightning in a wide arc in all directions. Though it was highly likely it would hit her target, she couldn't risk injuring her missing sister in the process.
However, the fog lifted at that instant and the sky became clear again.
That mean Adel had disabled his [Sillent hill].
"It's finally normal again!" Entoma said.
"Solution!" Narberal cried.
They see solution's body laid on the ground.
As the pleiades ready themselves to sprint to their sisters, Lupusregina stops them.
"Wait!"
"What if he's disguised as one of them?"
The battle maids hear this and begin to become paranoid
Is it a trap?
"She's alright."
The battle maids turn back.
They see Adel standing behind them
In an instant, the maids move in tandem with each other to form up which composed of Narberal casting [Fly], Yuri putting up her gauntlets and Lupusregina bringing her heavy crosier to bear. While Entoma wanted to help, she knew that she would be better off if she acted as a guard for her unconscious sisters.
"What have you done to them! " Yuri shouted.
While she acts like his enemy, she knows that the humble being that is her master, Adel-sama, would not do anything to endanger them seriously. If she were honest with herself, she'd rather discuss this over tea than fight it out.
But alas, Ainz's plan did not involve simply chatting.
"I just used [Knocking] on them. They're just unconscious." Adel said
"Shouldn't he be y'know, not explaining what his skills can do?" Lupusregina whispered to Yuri.
"Uh…h—hm…umu! Indeed! That is strange." Yuri said in an awkward way. Obviously she wasn't designed to be a good actor.
"Maybe he lied to us." Narberal said darkly.
"And why do I do that?" Adel said.
"If anything I could have plotted something even more nefarious, say, like 'accidentally' leaving an explosive item inside the orange haired maid over there and simply detonate as you just gathered around."
The maids hesitated.
While they wanted to refute it, none of them doubted he was capable of such things. However, after Lupusregina's quick analysis of the body, they knew that no such item was there.
Begrudgingly they had to accept the fact that he was probably telling the truth.
The question was however, why didn't he kill them?
"What is your plan, trash." Narberal said
"Well then. Let's find out shall we?" Adel retorted.
"Insolent—!" Narberal shouted before being cut off.
"But, before that. Are you sure you will be able to carry your sister's during this time?" Adel asked entoma
"It's not your business!" Entoma cried back while pulling Shizu onto her small shoulders.
"Lay her down Entoma" yuri said
"But Yuri-nee."
The reason for the insect maids distress was that she felt that her sisters would be safer if they were with her however she was reluctant to admit that it would reduce her fighting capacity by a significant margin.
"I can sense a sincerity in him, Entoma. He's like Cocytus-sama" Yuri soothingly spoke to her little sister.
"Alright." Entoma said.
Entoma lay Shizu down next to Solution, although this was only due to her trust in her eldest sister.
"Prepare yourselves, I won't go easy on you" Adel calls to them before breaking into a sprint.
Moving incredibly quickly, merely a few seconds had passed before he was already in front of Yuri and sent a punch directly at her. The punch connected and the amount of force was so great, it sent her flying.
Funnily enough, Yuri was certain she could hear a faint apology as that happened.
Lupusregina rushes his back however and swings.
Just as she knew he would, Adel catches the crosier only for Lupusregina to let go and cast a spell.
"[EXPLOSION]"
Boom!
Adel is no where to be seen due to the heavy amount of smoke that is left
Lupusregina thinking she had hit her target, was surprised when he dashed out of the cloud
"Wha—!?"
Adel quickly shoots his hand out to grab her by the throat in a grip she can't seem to brake out of.
"Hghh!" Lupusregina wriggled
What is this strength!
I can't escape!
Lupusregina throws a punch at his elbow joint however it's deflected by his other hand.
She attempts this on both his face and stomach and yet every time, his hand is there to block her.
However, it would seem Adel had forgotten of the other combatants as a sharp pain surged through his body, causing him to drop Lupsuregina.
"ahhk!"
Although the damage wasn't bad, Adel realised he needed to move.
Attempting to escape, Adel rushes away from the maids however his path is cut-off by Entoma wielding two bug blades. In an attempt to quickly get around her, he moves into strike however his attack hits her armour instead.
Though he only paused, it was a moment too long and just enough time for Narberal to land another hit on him .
—(Meanwhile)—
"Albedo."
"Yes! Ainz-sama"
"What is your opinion on the Pleiades? How are they fighting as of now?" Ainz asked
"From my perspective, the Pleiades seem to have underestimated our son's fighting ability. This negligence has led them to lose two of their members already." Albedo answered.
"What do you suppose their negligence could be caused by?" Ainz asked.
"Perhaps their anger towards Adel?"
"Indeed. They have been blinded by their own hatred of him. A basic tenant of combat is keeping a cool head, something I assume I will have to stress on later."
"However, that boy is quite impressive. He already deduced that he should go after the teams sniper and figured she would keep her distance from her sister's. Not only that, he would also use this as an opportunity to distract the others as he defeated Solution as well."
"As you said, my lord, our son truly is amazing!" Albedo gleefully replied.
"Keep watching Albedo" Ainz replied grumpily only to have her return to her senses.
Anyway…Adel told me last night that his Imp form would make his level drop from around 100 to 74 so he should actually be weaker than usual.
Maybe it would be like fighting Rubedo if I had him duel them in his skeleton form.
.
.
.
.
.
In contrast to the cool atmosphere of Ainz's office, the battleground was getting heated up due to the intense fight taking place. The sounds of clanging and flesh hitting flesh polluted the atmosphere.
While the fight was in the Pleiades' favour, Adel however was incredibly fast.
This meant that he was able to avoid or block each attack attack at the last second.
The problem was that the maids worked so well together that they left him no time to counter their attacks as another would be launched directly after the other.
Not only this, but fatigue was settling into him as he was still in his imp form.
Dammit!
Luckily I took the other two out otherwise I doubt I would've gotten this far.
However, at the moment he was about to block both a lightning strike and a bug blade slice.
Something fell from his pocket.
It's a cylindrical shaped object and should have a tiny stick at the top.
The latter component wasn't there however.
As if the world moved in slow motion, everything around him decreased in speed significantly.
The device was a flashbang that was designed to stun Albedo.
Yesterday evening.
He detonated it in his father's bedroom.
He invented three of them
The first was called a "Demo-version". This one was given to Ainz that night because Adel was afraid that the explosion from the second would be too bright and lead to blindness.
The second was called the "1.0 version" which was kept in Ainz's room. He presumed that this one will explode much brighter than the demo-version would stun his target even longer than the original.
The third was called " Bigboy" and was not only the largest of the three, but also the most detrimental. This was because any creature below approximately level 61 would be blinded permanently.
But now "BIGBOY" was going to detonate.
Shit!
I need to keep them away from this!
Adel lowered his guard.
Yuri noticed it.
What happened?
Why did Adel-sama lower his guard!?
"[ GRAVITY SHOCKWAVE ]"
Waves were released from his two hands as he held them outwards.
Gravity was truly a powerful force, capable of holding even planets together.
While the spell was powerful, it was draining on his already limited mana reserves and non-lethal so it was only used when the user was completely surrounded.
It pushes the maids a considerable distance away, Narberal and Entoma are even pushed out of the colosseum on the left hand side.
"Argh! What is this force! It's so strong!" Narberal complained.
Yuri was also pushed out of the colosseum, however she was launched out through the right side. Luckily she managed to grab both of her unconscious sister's as she flew through the air.
Something went wrong!
Why would Adel-sama push us away from him?
Unfortunately however, Lupusregina remain unaffected due to attacking from the front as opposed to the sides where the waves were released from.
Having no choice, Adel rushes directly to her, grabbing her by the waist he jumps with her in tow before hitting the ground again.
Confused, Lupusregina attempts to swipe at him with her nails however Adel simply holds down her wrist.
"Close your eyes now! " Adel shouted
Knowing she won't do it, he just covers her eyes with his right arm.
Not only this, he uses his body to shield Lupusregina's frame.
This was because of the enormous amount of heat that occurs as a result of the light generated.
Not only this but due to the spell he used earlier, he can't manifest a mana shield strong enough to withstand the blast
A confused Lupusregina wonders why her enemy has his arm over eyes as well as the searing heat she can feel
What is this?!
I feel very hot! Argh, my leg!
What the fuck?!
As quick as her opponent had shielded her, he was quick to release her after the brief period of searing heat.
Opening her eye's however, she found that her opponents face had lines that branched all over it.
His face is cracking?
Wait, it's a mask?!
How the hell does that work?.
Unless…That truly is his face.
As a result of the recent detonation, Adel was stunned. This wasn't to mention the burning stench the came of his shirt.
Completely ignoring this however, Lupusregina found a perfect opportunity to strike and did not want to waste it so she immediately kicked Adel off of her.
Adel flew through the air and landed in a heap a few meters away.
A twisted smile grew on Lupusregina's face and she slowly advanced on Adel's crumpled form, carefully yet excitedly stepping on his outspread organic hand, shattering many of the small bones in it.
"Argh!" Adel managed to yell despite being in a daze. Apparently dizziness and pain wasn't a good combination.
"Hahaha, oh how I love the way you break sounds." Lupusregina laughed maniacally while repeatedly stepping on his broken hand.
Shit…
I need…
Actual form…
I'm fucked otherwise…
"I've heard you snap quite a bit but I wonder what it'll sound like if I make you go, pop!" Lupusregina exclaimed the last word as she brought her foot down on Adel's stomach before kicking him to roll him on his side and watching as he threw up.
"Ahahahaha, you're leaking like a balloon!"
Lupusregina watched in amusement as her victim was emptying their stomach all over the ground in a fetal position. The fact that he wasn't drowning in his own bile however did not bode well with her.
"Oi, if you're head isn't in that then you've got no excuses to sing for me!"
*[recommended song : Dunkirk-the mole]*
In a fit of rage, she began her assault by using the end of her crosier to bludgeon his knees. The satisfying crack and cry of pain seemed to have brought her back to her senses as she started to calm down.
Although…no-one said that her calmness prevented her from having more fun with her victim.
She moved back to his arm and decided it wasn't broken enough to her liking so she used her crosier to beat it and fracture his elbow and wrist.
"Gah!" Adel proceeded to 'sing' for her in response to her crosier hitting him like an orchestra following the instructions of a conductors baton. It was simply music to her and she enjoyed every second of it.
—Meanwhile—
As the supreme overlord watch on calmly, the same could not be said for the guardian overseer.
"Lupusregina! I swear I wi—" Albedo screamed angrily as she watched her little boy get beaten.
"Albedo! Calm yourself!" Ainz ordered in a stern tone.
"But Ainz-sama! Our son is bei—" as she was about to launch into her rant, Ainz interrupted.
"Albedo, might I remind you of the same reason why the Pleiades underestimated him in the first place." ainz said
"Clearly it doesn't matter Ainz-sama, he's being tortured down there!" Albedo responded with her motherly instinct fully on display. Her impulsiveness wasn't helping in the slightest.
"Albedo, calm yourself and think of what might occur next." Ainz asked soothingly.
Albedo calmed herself and pondered over her masters words.
"Oh…Oh no." Albedo replied filled with dread.
"Indeed. Ready your equipment, we depart shortly."
"Understood Ainz-sama."
.
.
.
.
"I hope your enjoying this as I am!"
Lupusregina mocked him as Entoma and Narberal made their way back to her.
"Bugs such as him are not permitted to indulge in any sort of pleasure unless the supreme one finds them worthy, which I doubt he would." Narberal said with hatred in her voice.
"Try to restrain yourself Lupu, our orders indicate that he is to be brought back alive." Narberal warned Lupusregina.
"Okay— Na-chan" Lupusregina replied.
While a little disappointed that she wasn't allowed to end the human herself, Lupusregina relished despite that as she now had an excuse to make him suffer as much as possible without killing him.
I need to change my form.
If I don't do it.
I'll be dead soon.
Adels thoughts seemed to be harder to process as a result of the beating he had taken as it became a difficult task to even focus on even a single idea.
Lupusregina slapped him in the face.
"Hey! I can sense that your breaths are becoming more shallow and your pulse is weakening. Don't die yet. We still need to bring you ba—"
The air surrounding her victim seemed to fluctuate and began to warp in on itself, revealing an entirely new body.
As she tried to finish her sentence, a fist rocketed straight into Lupusregina's jaw and sent her flying into Entoma.
Rolling off her sister, Lupusregina exclaimed;
"What the hell!? His hand was more than thoroughly broken, not to mention the rest of his arm. What the fuck?"
Noticing a sharp sting on her face she brought her hands to her bottom lip.
Blood?
Due to Lupusregina having previously mutilated the thing in front of her, the evidence of the dark red liquid seeping from her lip shocked her.
It would seem that the puny human she had traumatised and inflicted so much pain on, wasn't even human to begin with.
"H…He's a…an undead?" Narberal remarked a little frightened.
He looked at the maids coldly.
The maids could feel difference between their power as if it were tangible.
"A…Ainz…sama?"
While the undead did indeed represent their master, there were many obvious reasons as to why he wasn't. The horns that extended out of his skull from either side was one of them.
"N…no…he's not" Entoma said.
While each maid was powerful in their own right, the atmosphere that surrounded the undead held them in place, frozen in fear. That being due to Adel's skeleton form passive, [Despair Aura IV].
The pressure felt like they were going to fight an enraged Shalltear during her blood frenzy.
Lupusregina gulped.
Despite their fear, their loyalty was unwavering and after nodding to each other, they readied themselves in a fighting stance.
"Na-chan" Lupusregina said to Narberal but her eyes remained on Adel.
"umu…" Narberal replied.
Due to them being sisters for so long, one could say they didn't need to communicate with words so Narberal knew what lupusregina was trying to say.
They need to use their true form.
Not giving them any chance to change, Adel moves with such speed, he disappears before reappearing in front of Entoma and delivers a punch right to her face and throat.
The force of the punch didn't send her flying however it wasn't used for that purpose. Instead, Adel chooses to disorient her through his punch to her face and causes her to choke up from the second.
Like a puppet whose strings had been cut, she instead falls to the ground and grasps her throat as if to assist her breathing.
While she is obviously in pain, any attempt to formulate sound would potentially damage her throat as well as the leech that would be in pain as well.
"You son of a bitch!" Lupusregina howl'sbefore charging at Entoma's attacker while Narberal is about to send a surge of lightning at him.
Not this time.
Adel evades the deranged wolf maid and proceeds to the one at the read.
Moving to fast for her to get an accurate shot, Narberal releases her spell to no avail and is instead greeted with darkness.
Adel dodged the lightning and pounced straight onto Narberal before delivering a sharp and calculated blow to the back of her head and knocking her out.
.
.
Lupusregina growls as her arms and upper body have enlarged significantly and have deep hazel fur essentially wrapping itself around them like a blanket.
Adel however, will not allow her transformation to complete.
Sprinting as fast as he can, he manages to get to the werewolf throat mid-transformation which seems to halt it as it needs to break free from his iron grasp.
"[HELL-EYES]"
As if hypnotised, Lupusregina becomes transfixed on the two fiery orbs that reside in her skeletal attackers eye sockets.
Lupusregina lets her arms fall down and stops struggling.
Gazing into each others 'eyes', the two look like lovestruck teenagers.
.
.
.
Yuri frantically carries her two sisters into the colosseum to see the carnage that could had unfolded in her absence.
I didn't expect Adel-sama's skill to be this severe.
Not only did she see two of her sisters on the ground, one lifeless and one writhing in pain, she saw the last one wailing in the grip of her masters offspring.
As her cries echoed through the area, tears flowed like a waterfall down her chestnut skin and her golden eyes continuously shook in fear.
"ah….ahhh…ar…." Lupusregina groaned in pain.
It would seem that the tables had been turned.
Oh my god this is not good.
Yuri thought
"Adel!" A loud frightened voice pierced through the cries of the red-haired maid which sounded oddly motherly came from behind Yuri.
While the voice stunned him, as Adel turned his head he immediately froze up in panic at the figure approaching him.
The form of his father entering the area pulled Adel back into reality and he was suddenly aware of what he was doing.
"Oh my." Adel exclaimed in shock.
He disabled his [Helleyes] so that lupusregina would come back to normal although the immediate release instead knocked her unconsciousness.
"What have you done to the others." Ainz asked, pointing to Solution and Cz.
"I made them all fall asleep father, they're fine." Adel said.
"Adel. We have much to talk."
"Y—yes…father." Adel meekly replied, somewhat fearful due to his fathers calm reaction and sudden appearance. Did he screw up? Was his father disappointed in his performance? Was he starting to regret his decision of giving him life?
"M—my apologies, Yuri-sama" Adel said guiltily.
"Uh…could you turn them back to normal? Adel-sama." Yuri asked, now even more worried about her sisters.
"Y—yes Yuri-sama" Adel said.
Despite her constant reprimands of how he addressed her, she forgot the issue because of the condition her sisters were in.
With a click of Adels fingers, Cz and Solution awoke.
"Oh? You just snap your finger?" Albedo asked.
"Y—yes Albedo-sama. I'm sure you saw it through the mirror. Not only can my [knocking] paralyse a victim, but it can also bring them back to normal again" Adel said.
Ummm…So it's kind like freezing a living fish in liquid nitrogen
Didn't I see that on the internet?
I have many things to learn about Adel.
Ainz thought
"Ainz-sama!" Solution and Cz cried as they moved to put themselves in front of their master to protect him
"Stop!" Ainz shouted.
The maid's were stunned and hesitated to stop, however they eventually ceased.
"Ainz-sama but h—" Solution said before being cut off by Ainz.
"Indeed, however there is still much to explain" Ainz said.
—The great tomb of nazarick –Throne room—
Ainz cast [Silence] over those around him so as to prevent anyone from hearing their conversation as well as any other staff to remain outside.
As Ainz sat on his throne, his son knelt before him on his left whereas the Pleiades knelt on his right.
Unlike her sisters, Cz had her weapon fixed on Adel
"Cz" Ainz said.
Cz shuddered.
"Weapons down" Ainz said
Cz hesitated to lower her rifle.
"I said, weapons down" Ainz repeated although this time, he added a bit more authority in his tone.
Cz complied.
"To prevent any unnecessary conflict, we'll keep the explanation simple" Ainz said.
"Albedo"
"Yes, my lord."
"If you please." Ainz said.
And so, the combat maids learnt of the birth of their masters child.
.
.
.
.
"Ainz-sama's child!?" the Pleiades exclaimed in shock before staring at Adel. Oddly enough, Yuri didn't seem to be enthusiastic as her sisters about the news.
The mood changed immediately.
"Umu…" ainz said
"That would explain the resemblance of yourself in his appearance Ainz-sama" Narberal said.
With the fact that Adel was truly the successor of Nazarick, the Pleiades each had many questions to ask.
"I understand that this may be difficult to process, however now would be a fitting time to ask any questions so which of you would like to go first?" Ainz asked.
Each maid raised their hand with the exception of a trembling Lupusregina who was suffering the aftereffects of Adel's skill and Yuri who was looking after her.
"Alright, Narberal first and then so on."
"Uh, yes, Ainz-sama" Narberal said.
"Um, uh, Adel, sama…"
"My sincere apologies! Adel-sama!" As if forgetting her previous blunder, Narberal immediately blurts out the apology before prostrating herself.
Ainz could understand the Pleiades moment of anxiety.
Adel was like the CEO heir, walking around his father's office without anyone knowing who he was.
Ainz reminisced of a time he saw a playback show in which a boss would disguise himself as a knew employee. In this situation however, it was his son.
Essentially what they felt now was guilt over how they had treated him.
Especially Lupusregina…
"We are so very sorry Adel-sama! Please forgive us!" the Pleiades next to Narberal all said in unison before joining their sister on the floor.
Albedo cast her gaze over the werewolf maid, with a look of both disgust and sympathy. While she understood that the maid had no idea who he was, could a mother ever bear to watch their child being hurt in such a way?
"Um…eh…." Adel felt completely at a loss.
Honestly, he a much friendlier atmosphere filled with banter and commentary from the bout like "woah, that fight was so intense" or "your crosier is so heavy!"
But now.
Six good-looking maids are standing in front of him bowing their head down, begging for his forgiveness.
Adel looks back to his father, Ainz.
Seeing his father gave him a little courage to say that he forgave them.
What I need to say next should be able to calm their fears and hopefully we can just get over this and become friends.
"Yes, I didn't mind what you did at all" Adel answered coldly.
Oh shit! Why did I have to say it like that!
The maids shifted on the floor and shuddered as if cold water had been poured over them.
His father however, recognised the undead passive emotion suppression continuously washing over his son.
"Uh—I mean. It's fine! I—I'm okay." he answered again, with a more friendly voice.
Visibly the maids relaxed and let their shoulder drop in relief.
Well, I guess they aren't so anxious anymore.
Seeing that their master was in a good mood, the maids decided that they would still have their chance at their questions.
"Adel…sama" Narberal asked.
"Yes? Narberal-sama?" Adel said.
"Adel-sama!" Yuri interrupted.
"I've already told you that calling your servant 'sama' is inappropriate" Yuri recited as she scolded the young master.
"Oh…sorry." Adel replied sheepishly.
"Wait…my servant? No! you girls belong to my father! Not me!" Adel said confused.
" Adel, those who serve your father also serve you. That's how it works" Albedo replied for Ainz's side.
"….Right…so Narberal sa—Narberal?"
"Y—yes your highness"
"I wanted to know what you really are. At first you appeared as an automaton and then a human before finally being an undead, it's a little…confusing."Narberal's voice trailed off in fear she might have offended Adel.
"Oh…that's a little complicated" Adel replied.
"My apologies!" Narberal apologised while berating herself in her head.
"W—wait! I mean…it will take a time to explain this" Adel said
"So who I really am…"
"All of them" Adel.
"A—all of…them?" Solution said.
"I know! Strange Right?" Adel replied.
At his friendly response, the shaken maids began to ease up more and engage in a conversation of Adel's exact identity.
"I possess three full forms, those being imp, human and undead as you have all seen." Adel paused before explaining further.
"While I can transform into each at will, the tradeoff is that my level is lowered such as being maxed in my undead form but being around level seventy six in my imp form and even lower while human."
"So was that why you were so strong once you changed, Adel-sama." Narberal concluded.
"Yep."
"Then what of your automaton parts?"
The question came from a confused Cz who had been curious of the matter throughout the entire explanation
"Good question. The thing is, I'm not actually fully automaton however I still have the arm of one." Adel elaborated by holding out his left arm as the lighting of the room reflected off of it, reinforcing the smooth metallic colour of it.
Cz responded with a simple "Uwah" however those that knew her could tell that she was clearly even more curious about the boy than before.
"Why is it that you do possess three forms Adel-sama?" The question came from Entoma.
"Honestly I'm not quite sure myself, however it could be a result of father using three powerful items to create me."
The maid simply nodded in response, possibly sinking deeper into thought on the issue.
Taking the silence as her due, Solution speaks up
"Uh, Adel-sama."
"How could you stop me from moving, even preventing me changing form."
Reaching into his glove, Adel pulls out a small bag with a white powder inside
"That would be because of this."
" I'm sorry Adel-sama but what is this?" Solution asked in confusion.
"It's a Konjac powderthat I made while working with Nfirea in Carne village."
"What is Konjac powder if I may ask?"
"It's from a perennial plant in which it can be used to make this powder. The powder's main property is it's ability to absorb liquid." Adel explained
"So it just absorbed the liquid that would have been used for my movement or to restructure my form? Adel-sama?"
"Indeed, I released a small amount into your body while you absorbed my fist."
"Incredible, as expected of Ainz-sama's son." Solution praised her masters son, causing to him to feel slightly embarrassed.
"Adel-sama, what is knocking?" Cz asked.
Solution nodded at the question "Indeed, that was truly an interesting ability you used on us."
Lowering his head Adel apologised "I remember! Please forgive me for using such a skill on you!"
"P—please Adel-sama, raise your head, we cannot possibly be offended by what you have done." Solution frantically tried to accept the apology and get Adel to raise his head. Even the other maids and the guardian overseer found themselves so flustered at the sight.
"Uh…mmm…t—thank you all. My skill is used to paralyse single opponents until I release them by snapping my fingers." Adel emphasised the point by making a snapping sound with two of his mechanical fingers.
Solution and Entoma both bowed their head's in response "Thank you for answering our question Adel-sama."
After the two responded, the room went briefly silent before Lupusregina fearfully asked her question.
"If I may ask a question Adel-sama, what fell off of your suit during our fight?"
Despite the quiet of the throne room and having enough courage to not stutter, her voice was still near inaudible as she spoke in the most quiet and guilty voice she could.
Beta-san…
I was angry for what she did but she didn't know who I was!
Ahhh, now she must hate me.
The lack of her signature "suu" that followed the ending of each of her sentences was not lost on anyone. It would seem that she felt even guiltier than they thought.
Ainz and Adel shuddered.
"Oh…oh…Well that's…uh…that's…m…my weapon! Right father?!" Adel spoke in what could be the most incoherent sentence possible as deliberately attempted to avoid looking at Albedo.
Needless to say, his father was just as flustered as he was as he practically had to force the words out.
"Y—yes! Indeed that is my son's weapon."
The words he spoke however, triggered the guardian overseer's caring side as she began to worry and instead, hurry to the throne and check her master's condition.
"Ainz-sama, are you feeling alright? It's as if this topic has made you feel unwell for some reason."
"Please Albedo I'm fine so there is no need to worry." Ainz managed to steel himself in the face of the winged beauty thanks to the emotion suppression.
At least it's kinda useful
Upon hearing the calm voice of her master through her panic, Albedo settled and instead her face became hot due to her close proximity to Ainz. She apologies in a somewhat timid and cute manner by rubbing her hands together nervously and avoiding eye contact.
"My apologies, Ainz-sama."
She's acting like a school girl with her crush!
"Yes, perhaps we should move back to the topic of the question at hand."
"Indeed, father."
Seemingly enough, no-one noticed the small device in the Overlord's skeletal hand as he slowly shifted it back into his sleeve…
"The device was called a flashbang, beta-sa—Lupusregina." Adel said
A slap was heard as Yuri hit her forehead at Adel comment.
"It's designed to temporarily blind opponents however the one that fell out was created to blind a target permanently. That isn't to mention the high temperatures that it emits when used."
"B—but…what about you Adel-sama! You used your body to shield me from it! D—d—does that mean that you were damaged yourself?" Lupusregina shouted the first few sentences but as realisation donned on her, she immediately quietened.
"Uh, I did that in order to protect you, Lupusregina."
Her heart had seemingly stopped and she felt like her world was spinning, the man that she had broken so badly, the man she loathed with every fibre of her being. Not only was he her masters only child, he protected her even when she acknowledged him as her enemy.
"Adel…sama…" Her hoarse voice cracked the words as fresh droplets trailed down her face.
After she uttered Adel's name, she instead sank to the floor and was on her hands and knees as she barely had the strength to keep herself upright. The emotions she had been feeling all swelled before bursting before everyone as she wept on the floor in a pitiful state. It was not the being that she hated that was the enemy of Nazarick, it was herself. Even if she had not known, the lack of understanding was simply not enough to soothe her sorrow as she began to become aware of how a certain guardian felt after they attacked the supreme one. Whether it was a lack of understanding or possession, she was created by the supreme beings to serve Nazarick with all her heart, body and soul. It was simply betrayal to do anything that would interfere with that, regardless of the circumstances.
Seeing the maid, all could not help the feeling of sadness that overcame them as the cheerful maid became a shadow of her former self, with the exception however of one entity in the room that took pleasure in the suffering of someone who had harmed someone so precious to them.
Adel decided to walk over to the offender and kneel down and lift her head so that their eyes could meet.
"A—a…" Lupusregina could barely speak, let alone face him.
The Undead with horns then hold up her beauty face before wrapping his arms around the sobbing maid and pulling her into his embrace.
Those present in the room seemed to have frozen as the shock from his actions took them all by surprise. Lupusregina herself simply stiffened up at the contact, wide-eyed at the situation.
Adel simply ignored that and began to stroke her head and whisper soothingly in her ear that she was forgiven.
It could be safely said however, that Lupusregina cried even harder at the kindness Adel showed her and so they remained on the floor as her tears fell.
Adel-sama…So you, remember last night?
Yuri thought and remembered the embrace she brought Adel into when he was feeling so sad.
It would seem that Adel-sama didn't just inherit your looks, Ainz-sama…
.
.
.
.
.
While the two were lost in the moment, Ainz felt that they needed to finish this little gathering up soon so that they could move onto other matters.
"While it pleases me to see such a heartwarming sight, I must ask you both to separate so that we can continue."
At the sound of his father's voice, Adel slowly removed his arms from Lupusregina and shifted back before getting up and returning to his father, Eventhough he is now Undead skeleton which has no facial expression but Lupusregina could instinctively acknowledge that he is flashing her a consoling smile.
Lupusregina simply wiped her face with the handkerchief provided by Yuri and beamed with joy.
Yuri cleared her throat before asking her question;
"I would like to ask, what is the Hell-eyes ability exactly?"
Lupusregina shuddered at the mention of the skill however she too was curious about what it was exactly meant to do.
"I'm sure you all understand this but all living creatures have a mind."
The maids nodded
"This mind's awareness is separated into the conscious, preconscious and unconscious."
"A simple comparison of this is too an iceberg, on the surface is consciousness, which consists of those thoughts that are the focus of our attention now, and this is seen as the tip of the iceberg. The preconscious consists of all which can be retrieved from third and most significant region is the unconscious. Here lie the processes that are the real cause of most behavior. Like an iceberg, the most important part of the mind is the part you cannot unconscious mind acts as a repository, a 'cauldron' of primitive wishes and impulse kept at bay and mediated by the preconscious area" Adel said.
"My ability targets the victim's mind at the unconscious level and use their collective fears in a way to essentially invoke such a deep sense of dread, it is actually painful. It is used to essentially entrance the target into a sleep like state and force them to dream of their nightmares, creating two layers. The first is the nightmare itself which is drawn from the unconscious level and the second is the entranced state which prevents them from awakening." Adel said
"So it's forcing one to have a nightmare inside of their dream?" Ainz asked.
"Indeed father."
"The catch is that it doesn't affect those who don't require sleep as the skill cannot entrance them in a sleep like state. While it could technically work, it would be very simple to break them out of it by waking them up. Hence, the two layers so one would have to enter the outermost layer first to break through the inner which takes a significant amount of time." Adel finally concluded.
"so Lupu, what did you see?" Narberal asked.
Lupusregina looked down and uncharacteristically replied in a distant voice;
"That's not something I want to be brought up again. Never, again…"
.
.
.
After a long conversation, the Pleiades walked out of the throne room.
While walking, Narberal asks Lupusregina a question
"Lupu…"
"yes~?" Lupusregina beta replied.
"I saw you blushing while Adel-sama embraced you. Does that mea—"
"What!? N—n—no! Na-chan?! How c—could…I" Despite her refusal, Lupusregina's face reddened to the point where it was nearly the same colour as her hair.
"Uwah." Cz comments.
"Ahh—I also saw that too— " Solution says.
"So-chan?! Shizu?! Even you?!" Lupusregina exclaims in disbelief.
"Wah, look's like Lupu-chan is i—" Entoma chimes before she is interrupted by a red faced Lupusregina.
"nooooOoooOOOOo------!"
{ A/N } Hope you like it. A little of review would be very appreciated.