97

"He's quite tenacious," Ainz remarked with some respect at the Berserker charging him.

Ainz's battle with Megalos, if you could call it that, was like a very aggressive game of catch-up. If only against a cripple. Ainz used his uttermost cheating capability to its fullest and proceeded to teleport and attack from afar again and again. Forcing Megalos - or, as Ainz himself called him in his thoughts, 'Heracles, but bigger and angrier'- to jump after Ainz over and over again, only to get one charge of magic to the face then another. Like a demented sisyphean task where Sisyphus gets rolled over by the boulder as it tumbled down.

"Only four percent left… finally." Ainz exhaled a tired breath while sending another bolt of lightning. Megalos's health was predictably reduced by another two percent, as it is displayed in Ainz's 'See Life' spell as a barely flickering light in his opponent's chest, ready to die out from an unfortunate gust of wind. Casting another spell a second before his opponent could gather himself from the charge of electricity, Ainz sent the last spell to end the battle - "Acid Mist".

A cloud of poisonous green gas rose up around the figure of the dying monster. It instantly dissolves the ground under him with the ease of hot metal being poured onto ice, poisoning plants and leaving only a vapor of deadly particles. Megalos could barely take another step before the poisonous cloud reached his body. The deadly mist engulfed the bulk of the invincible warrior that a second ago could frighten any Servant by issuing a piercing howl. An instant later, Megalos' skin and flesh slowly slipped away from his bones according to the laws of physics, as the acid mist destroyed every bond that could hold Megalos's body together. With its flesh sloughing off, the monster fell first to its knees - and then to the ground, sprinkling the acid-covered beach with its almost black blood. Blood that, after a second, foamed and started dissolving to.

Ainz, seeing the now dead Berserker however, was in no hurry to descend to the ground. He continued to hover in the sky only lowering himself slightly in order to see his defeated opponent better.

"Summon Undead: One" - After a second, Ainz cast a spell to summon a first-level skeleton. Which, obeying the will of its creator, took several steps towards the corpse.

Ainz could see a large amount of mana coalescing on what's supposed to be a dead body. A body of a creature similar to Heracles continued to lie on the ground, with a large amount of mana worried him somewhat. So he sent a scout forward.

The brainless skeleton made several steps forward, without fear it entered the cloud of floating poison, relying only on its undead invulnerability to such an element, It approached the dead body of Berserker...

Only to scatter as a cloud bone shrapnel after a second.

Megalos's hand, which had lost its skin and part of its muscles, closed confidently on the shaft of his huge ax which just evaporated the skeleton. After which Megalos let out a deafening roar. All this done while still looking like nothing more than a rotting corpse lying on the ground.

The mana wave that was harmless by its very nature. However, Ainz still preferred to move a little away from the seemingly defeated opponent, and then observe him from afar.

Megalos's body, disfigured by the spell that killed him, slowly seemed to grow back. Where the wounds were especially deep, Ainz could see flesh grow very quickly. From the inside then outward, the regenerated flesh was now covered with gray skin again. A skin with blood-red cracks pulsing with pure hatred and anger covering it. The Berserker now looked as he was before.

"Revival?" - Ainz glanced at the quickly regenerating health that was refilling back to its original value - "No, rather, some type of regeneration that activates when his health bar is empty..."

After only a few seconds, the fountain of magic that had been gushing upwards ceased. After which Megalos, whose health according to Ainz's magic was fully restored, stood up and roared. The calm sea was stirred up by the shockwaves.

However, Ainz had little fear or interest in that. Rather, he was interested in something else.

"His health... is starting to sink much more slowly," Ainz was once more intrigued.

Despite the fierce roar and the horrific retribution that it promised, Megalos continued to stand in the cloud of acid mist that Ainz had previously created. An unforgivable mistake even for the newest of beginners. After all, while you are in the AoE of a trap that inflicts damage on you, no matter how cool you are being about it, the trap continues to damage you.

However, there was an interesting aspect to what is happening right now.

Before the sudden revival, the acid cloud inflicted damage to the Berserker at an approximate rate of one percent per second. After, um, the enemy's regeneration - Ainz was able to see that the damage done by the acid had dropped to one-hundredth of its original value. So it is true that his opponent was currently taking damage - but at such an insignificant rate that it could have been neglected entirely.

"Has he increased his health pool?" - Ainz teleported the moment Megalos decided to finally jump again towards him and casted a different spell that he knew the damage rate is - "Napalm".

The column of fire engulfed Ainz's enemy, and as usual it didn't interrupt his enemy's tempo, forcing Ainz to teleport once again from another leap. But at least he has achieved his goal.

His spell did the same damage to Megalos as before - about two percent of his health.

"So, not an increase in health, but..." - Ainz pondered - "Adaptive regeneration!?"

Megalos, not paying attention to Ainz's thoughts, jumped again. For which he received one more lightning to the face in response as Ainz teleported away.

Looking at Megalos's health dropping another two percent, Ainz smiled.

So Acid has lost most of its usefulness, hmm...

Fire. Ice. Electricity. Gravity. Strangulation. Psychic attacks. Crushing damage. Piercing damage. Cutting damage. Negative energy. Pain. Disruption of the body. Curses. Dark energy. Holy energy. And this was not a complete list of all Ainz's methods of damaging an enemy.

Nevertheless, there was a reason why he always remained in the position of the team's 'wildcard' in the event of a raid. And although he was not strong in his attacking magic, one had only to envy the entire arsenal that he had accumulated during his time in Yggdrasil.

However…

Ainz sighed and frowned.

If he were to rely on Magic Tiers that wouldn't damage his body then... His arsenal was severely limited.

Ainz shrugged, nothing he could do about it after all. He would cross that bridge if he needed to.

He could only hope that the enemy would not have too many regenerations in reserve...

Mashu, Mozart and Asterios fought with all their might, but the battle, which before seemed very advantageous to them, has now reversed. And now they are simply doing their best to survive.

Mashu could easily parry the attacks of Spartacus and some spells of the Demon King, but she could hardly attack or disrupt their enemy's tempo. Mozart could block the spells of the Demon King, but he could not go on the offensive without the risk of straying too far from under Mashu's shield and being hit by Spartacus. Asterios could easily fight off Sanson, but any attempt to attack the enemy would inevitably leave his back open to attacks.

The Servants' situation was like a stalemate, due to which their battle slowly but surely turned into a battle of attrition. And although Mashu and Mozart were not particularly afraid of this fact, relying on the almost infinite mana of their Master - Asterios, the main attack force of their group, was still vulnerable to this. The enemy Servants and the Demon King... Not so much.

Having repulsed another attack of Spartacus, Mashu felt an explosion starting behind her back. However, Mozart's music instantly overwhelmed it, turning it into a simple, harmless, bright clap. And then she ducked so that Asterios' monstrous ax would throw Sanson away, who was trying to take advantage of Mashu's preoccupation with Spartacus.

Ainz's help… would be ideal, under the current conditions, but right now her Senpai was fighting an enemy that was orders of magnitude superior to anything Mashu could have imagined. If he got distracted now... The consequences could be unpredictable.

For a second, the Demon King, who had been incessantly sending spell after spell, froze in place. And then the column of flesh started shaking, in fear or confusion, Mashu wasn't so sure. - "No... That was just an accident, just a fluke... Besides - just killing him once, it doesn't mean anything, he just got lucky... Never mind!"

After that, he doubled his effort aimed at destroying Mashu. Because of which she had to put up her shield, blocking Mozart from attacking. Mashu could hear behind her, that Asterios was able to stop the barrage of crazed attacks from Spartacus, and then answered back with his own. Something which only made the damaged Berserker burst out into laughter, - "MORE! MORE! GIVE ME MORE PAIN! MAKE ME EVEN STRONGER!"

Mashu glanced to the side, finding Mozart with her eyes.

The latter, catching Mashu's eyes, nodded, - "I have a plan."

Oh, it's been a long time since Mashu heard more pleasant words than these...

Romulus was a worthy foe, stronger than many other Servants that could compete with her in battle. And yet, Romulus, as strong as he was, was not the strongest.

Altera, in general, could defeat any opponent that would stand in her way. But there were always conditions, plans, specific counterbalances that could bestow victory to any side in any battle. However, unlike Romulus, Altera still belonged to the caste of the strongest heroes of humanity. The amount of advantage one could leverage against her could be counted in one hand.

A blow from Romulus's spear could easily destroy a small city - so the shockwave from the impact between his spear and Altera's blade was like an earthquake passing through the entire island. And yet, receiving that blow, Altera's posture was like a mountain, unmoved and unaffected. Taking on all the power of Romulus head on, Altera was unmoved. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on which side you're on, Ainz's magic and Altera's own abilities made her so powerful that even the monstrous bulk of Romulus in front of her looked no more threatening than Goliath in front of David.

With a simple twist of her wrist, Altera easily broke Romulus' defense - and her next attack would certainly have pierced right through Romulus... If it had taken place.

Unfortunately, Altera was forced to retreat and defend Medea.

Moments later, Altera's blade deflected Jason's blade — with the lightness of a wind that casually ripped leaves from a tree — forcing Medea to recoil in front of it.

After another second, Altera's knee easily knocked the breath out of Jason, throwing him back. But still, Altera could not capitalize on the opening, instantly rushing away, protecting yet another Servant from Romulus's blow.

Medea clenched her fists painfully and her eyes filled with tears.

She is useless...

Looking at Jason approaching again to attack her, Medea concentrated all her power in a spell. A gust of wind that could flay flesh to the bones even from a Saber like Jason, and then directed her staff at the enemy.

Jason approached, step by step, in just one moment he would be in a straight line of attack. He cannot evade and he cannot defend himself. Jason... Jason...

Jason's eyes flashed an emotion familiar to Medea, acceptance. After which Medea, who a second ago was ready to end Jason, changed the direction of her staff. The monstrous gust of wind, instead of killing Jason, hit the ground just ahead of Saber, forcing Jason to jump back.

Medea could not bring herself to hit Jason. Even if they were enemies... Even if she knew that Jason was only using her. Even if she understood that all her love was nothing more than a lie, a fiction, a whim of perception, Medea could not bring herself to attack Jason. Not him...

Taking advantage of the conflict in Medea, Jason was next to Medea before she could react - the steel of his blade flashed in his hands...

Then, cursing, Jason flew back when an arrow struck into his body. Atalanta, who is zealously watching the battlefield and unlike Medea, did not experience such an obvious confrontation in her soul. She sent arrow after arrow at her former captain.

However…

A moment later, the figure of a young girl, Mary Reed, was next to Atalanta. The sharpened steel of a huge blade gleamed in her hand no less menacingly than the blade of Jason. But, as soon as Atalanta's gaze came across Mary, who looked even younger than Medea, Atalanta's previously menacing gaze had changed to confusion. And her hands, which previously confidently held her bow before, froze in incomprehensible anticipation.

In this battle, Atalanta also faced opponents she can't attack, let alone kill.

Only Altera, who appeared next to her due to her absolutely incredible speed, was able to save Atalanta from certain death as she kicked Mary away. Altera moving to defend Atalanta opened Medea for an attack, thankfully only by Anne and not Romulus.

The bullet hitting Medea made her stagger backward. Knocking her out of her fugue, remembering that a battle was still going on. Although the protective magic around her made the attack in no way fatal, the very fact that Anne Bonnie's shot hit her made Medea concentrate on the fight again.

Medea's gaze instantly focused on the shooter - and Medea's pupils dilated.

Anne, who had just shot her, spat blood out of her mouth while aiming for a new shot. A very strange fact seeing that no one had attacked Anne! During the entire battle, all Servants from both sides had been attacked. All except for her.

Why would Anne be injured…?

Medea froze, after which Anne Bonny's attack whizzed past her.

Anne Bonny and Mary Reed, Servant Rider, one Servant in two bodies. Anne Bonny was not attacked but she still received injuries. The only one that was attacked was Mary… Does this mean?!

Jason's blade whistled towards Medea, but she did not even try to attack or defend herself in response. She knew that it would not lead to anything.

Instead, a plan ripened in her head.

"Atalanta, Jason… Forgive me" - Medea exhaled, then, unexpectedly for her role as a magician, rushed forward to the frontline.

"It's getting hot!" - Blackbeard rolled back, fleeing from Nero's blade, - "Is it because of me or because of you?"

"Blackbeard, your hotness could not even light a fucking match!" - Drake's shot crashed next to Blackbeard, forcing him to move aside. Only to dodge the attack of the interfering skeletons created by Medea's magic and, without any grace, strike a skeleton standing next to him - "Stop and don't twitch, I'm trying to make another hole in you!" Drake screamed out.

"Do you want to make me look like you?" Blackbeard grinned at his joke, after which he was forced to dodge again.

Chevalier continued to fight with Nero. And to his simultaneous pleasure from fighting such a magnificent girl, dissatisfaction was gradually mixed with how little the balance of power in the battle had changed after Caligula appeared on the battlefield. Of course, her heart fluttered at the sight of a beautiful girl, with such unbending stubbornness fighting against her distraught uncle, and her past. But the very fact that she is stubbornly and effectively fighting him caused anxiety to grow in Chevalier's heart.

With some indescribable grace and speed, Nero parried all attacks aimed at her, managing to counterattack, and also forcing the Chevalier to retreat more and more time after time. In such conditions, the moment when Nero could finally turn the tide of the battle was inevitable.

Medea's spell slamming into the Chevalier knocked him away, forcing the Saber to sigh.

Apparently, the time has come to reveal their next trump card.

"Blackbeard, won't you be so kind?" Chevalier was distracted for a second, and paid for it with a sharp cut that traced his body.

"ARE YOU READY KIDS?!" - Blackbeard staggered back, then shouted.

"Activate your Phantasm!" Chevalier cried out, already somewhat irritated by Blackbeard's ridiculousness.

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" - Blackbeard laughed - and then received Medea's spell for his temerity, crashing into his body, - "OOOOOOO... WHO LIVES IN THE PHANTASM UNDER MY LEGEND?!"

"QUEEN ANNE'S REVENGE!" Finally, with a heated glare from Chevalier, Blackbeard shouted out the name of his Noble Phantasm. The effect was immediate as the beach's sand heaved in waves as the phantom ship of Edward 'Blackbeard' Teach appeared.

As if under the influence of an invisible wind, the sails of Blackbeard's ship unfurled by themselves. After which, the flag of the Jolly Roger soared to the sky announcing the appearance of the legend of Blackbeard to the whole world.

Blackbeard's ship was not an offensive oriented Noble Phantasm in itself, nor was Blackbeard the grandest pirate in history. However, it was the image of Edward Teach, the image of Blackbeard the ravager of the sea. The image of a 'Pirate' that was imprinted in the mass consciousness of people was of Blackbeard. He gave the people of the world the image of a 'Pirate', the image of a sea crew of desperate thugs. This is what Edward Teach's ship was.

The symbol of 'Piracy' itself. Though why Blackbeard himself is an otaku spouting nonsensical things is a mystery of Grand proportion.

'Piracy' was not something tangible. 'Piracy' is a team of pirates that grow stronger under the leadership of their captain. And in turn the captain remains in legends thanks to their crew.

The cannon ports of Queen Anne's Revenge were closed, but Blackbeard did not need any artillery at this point.

After all, his team was there.

The Chevalier instantly felt a surge of energy rising inside her and he smiled.

A moment later, the Chevalier's blade collided with Nero's blade. However, if, until that moment, all the Chevalier's attacks were barely noticeable to Saber - this time the Chevalier's narrow sword made Nero freeze in place from the force of the blow.

Without exchanging any courtesy at the moment of collision- as much as Chevalier wanted to - she attacked Nero again. A flurry of attacks that forced the Emperor to focus on defending herself. Then he attacked her again, again and again...

Even when Chevalier flashed her blade again and again, Nero easily fended off the attacks of the Chevalier. Even when enhanced by the influence of Blackbeard's Phantasm, he had only approached Nero's level, but did not become on par with her. However… it still meant that it required Nero's full attention to weather the onslaught.

It is no surprise then when Caligula's blade entered Nero's thorax easily, piercing her heart through and through.

Victory was never the goal for Chevalier.

Dodging the falling body, Chevalier froze for a second.

"FEAR THE YONKO'S POWER!" - So the full effect of Blackbeard's Noble Phantasm is revealed. The strength of a pirate crew should not be underestimated - but only the captain remains in the legend. Blackbeard's Phantasm strengthened his entire team, yet Blackbeard himself also grew stronger the more 'crew' he had.

A moment later, Blackbeard, bursting out laughing with loud laughter, easily demolished a dozen skeletons surrounding him, rushing into battle.

"You fu…" - Medea did not have time to say anything more before Blackbeard, who had received boosts of power from his three 'teammates' - Chevalier, Caligula and even the Demon King - was next to her. After which a fist flashed at an incredible speed into Medea. And although her body was covered with powerful defensive magic - a barrier comparable in strength to the armor of the Age of Gods burst like a soap bubble, throwing the girl away.

And just as suddenly the Chevalier staggered back, spitting blood. Pain shot through her body and he slowly turned her gaze to the blade, the point of which peeked out of his body.

The Chevalier blinked in confusion, then shifted her gaze to where the blade originated from.

"Ah, Your Imperial Majesty", - Chevalier smiled, - "Death has treated you well."

"Rumors about my death were greatly exaggerated", - Nero smiled back.

The Chevalier exhaled. None of his plans are going as well as they would like.

However, Nero? What she knew about her certainly did not include the fact that Nero could regenerate indefinitely as long as her Master had the mana to support her revival.

And, as mentioned more than once, Ainz had a lot of mana to spare.

The Chevalier staggered back as Nero pulled out the blade piercing him.

"Fucking Blackbeard!" - Drake's shout reached even the mortally wounded Chevalier, - "If you think that your rusty vessel can compete with my fleet, then you are fucking mistaken! Golden Wild Hunt!"

Oh, Drake's Noble Phantasm... The one they feared all this time...

Even if Blackbeard is ten times stronger than he usually is, not even ashes would remain in the face of Drake's attack.

In other circumstances, if the Chevalier had not been summoned by the Demon King, whose power over the behavior and thoughts of the Servants was too great, the Chevalier would have been delighted with this fact. However, now - alas...

The Chevalier smiled. She is dying again, well… At least he will leave beautifully. It will take Blackbeard a few seconds to reach Drake. A few seconds that she was willing to provide.

"Fleur De Lys", - Chevalier smiled, activating his last, suicidal Noble Phantasm, - "Profusion of Hundred Flowers, Dance of Lilies."

"Sanson!", - Mozart threw a cry across the entire battlefield, continuing to fight, - "At the very beginning of the battle you asked me if I was angry with you for the execution of Marie-Antoinette? I'm sorry, but I am so hypocritical that even at that moment I answered you falsely. No, Sanson, I am not angry with you."

After another moment, Mozart dodged Spartacus's blow and sighed. All that was left for them now was to rely on their plan.

"Sanson, I only feel disgust for you.", - Mozart exhaled, - "To you, to all your work, to your behavior. The disgust I felt is so strong that it cannot be conveyed by any words. But I have always got along with music much more than with any words. And so, let me, with the help of my Master, convey to you some of this disgust."

A second later, the teleportation ring on Mozart's finger flickered, and Mozart was now far away from any enemies. After which the influx of mana from his Master increased to such a level that it hurt Mozart to keep it in himself. However, Mozart did not plan to keep it for too long.

"Requiem For Death!" - Mozart spoke instantly, then a second later a blade crashed into his neck.

"La Mort Espoir!" Sanson reacted to the danger, and used his phantasm instantly. The blade of the sharpened guillotine of the French revolution sank down to cut off Mozart. But the moment when Mozart's head was supposed to be cut off, the blade, as if it had crashed into a stone barrier failed to do anything.

La Mort, a guillotine that will execute anyone who resigns themself to their fate. When a person says their 'destiny' is to die, then it means that they have already succumbed to their execution. Whether he considered himself worthy of execution or not is just superficial reasoning. At the moment when the victim accepted their fate - they will not be given any levity on the guillotine.

And so Mozart grinned.

He had already seen his destiny once.

A Demon King... Once upon a time, Mozart, the great musician, was face to face with his destiny. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the bearer of the ancient blood, an ancient line of magi... Once upon a time it was he who was destined to be reborn as the Demon King Asmodeus.

But then, looking his fate in the face, Mozart chuckled and accomplished a legendary deed.

He cheated his fate.

No one can take your soul into the service of the King if you have no soul to sell.

So Mozart gave his soul to his only true love. Music.

Mozart was not a 'Child of God' in the sense that Christians or pagans mean the words. He was a 'Child' of music who gave his soul to his greatest passion. And so he became an empty vessel filled with endless creations of music of sounds to which his soul was open.

And yet, one creation, one music was incomprehensible even to him.

Music that now poured into the open, forcing Sanson and Spartacus to fall to the ground, clutching their ears with their hands. Music that made even the obnoxious Demon King freeze from unnatural sounds pouring straight into his mind.

"Asterios", - Mozart grinned at the moment, - "Do your thing."

"Chaos Labyrinthos!" Asterios reacted instantly.

"Wow, ten regenerations!" - Ainz nodded several times while looking at Megalos - "Amazing!"

Even one self-resurrection in YGGDRASIL was often considered an ability only slightly below the level of 'cheating'. Ainz knew only one person who had nine lives. However, this should not be surprising given that this person was a World Champion. And even among World Champions, they considered him invincible. Even Touch Me admitted that he would have lost in a fight with him. Even though Touch Me was not yet the greatest player in YGGDRASIL - he was still a close second. However, this person, the number one of the game… was much stronger.

Megalos let out another roar, leaping forward, forcing Ainz to sigh.

"Acid, ice, fire, electricity, negative energy, dark energy, and even asphyxiation" - Ainz listed all the ways he had killed his opponent before - "I still have psychic attacks and internal damage... What else, hmm..."

"Explosion!" Ainz chose a suitable spell to cast, throwing Megalos away yet again. And although the damage inflicted by fire barely affected Megalos at all - due to the fact that part of the damage of the spell was considered bludgeoning damage - Megalos's health still sunk by a few percent - "Next on the list... Gravity! Control Gravity!"

A second later, the colossus that is Megalos froze - after which, as if obeying an alternative laws of physics, began to fall up past Ainz.

Megalos was easily able to orient himself - and after a second his figure turned in the air towards Ainz. After which, leaning against an intangible air barrier, he jumped down with monstrous force... Only to crash into the ground a second later when Ainz teleported away and changed the vector of Gravity, strengthening its downward pull for more damage. Megalos's health dropped by a few more percent.

"Hmm, this is fun..." - Ainz changed gravity again, after which the subject of his spell, Megalos, under the influence of the new gravity began to fly up again. This time though, when Ainz meant to repeat the previous trick, Megalos managed to arrest his momentum before crashing into the ground.

"Hmm… for a Berserker, he learns quickly..."

Ainz was not particularly worried about defeating his opponent in the end. After all, in a pinch, even if he had somehow exhausted all his reserves of abilities and was forced to use attacks that did minimal amounts of damage - with his essentially unlimited MP, he would win. Although the effectiveness of his magic would be reduced, it still does damage. So he could, as a last resort, simply continue to overwhelm his opponent with less effective attacks and kill him that way… A battle of attrition is not one he could lose.

Ainz looked at his mana pool and smiled. Thanks to the correct distribution of forces and mana expenditures, his MP bar sank by hardly a few percent. However, at the same time...

"I'm getting bored," Ainz exhaled in frustration. Megalos was not a strong opponent, just… terribly balanced, and terribly uninteresting to fight. All he could do was jump in the hope of hitting Ainz in close combat. And that's all he did... Not interesting to fight at all. He just teleported, then attacked. Then he teleported again and attacked again. In his previous battles, he saw some kind of unique ability, action, or even reaction of the Servants he fought in the end! In this battle nothing like that happened.

It was like he was back in Yggdrasil killing endless amounts of MOBs for gold again. What's worse even when he's grinding MOBs, he could get some excitement with the loot drops. He's started to feel depressed by this boring battle.

Ainz groaned out. As it turned out, the health potion did not restore life to Ainz's body - at least it did not cause damage in return. It was simply useless to him.

This means that Ainz could not use too strong of an ability, fearing that he would permanently injure the body entrusted to him even more. Therefore, with a sigh, Ainz shook his head, and resolved himself to slog through the battle.

And then a brilliant idea appeared in his head. "Okay, I can do that and it won't take long. Only now I have to, hmm... "

Gravity pulled Megalos upward again with a much stronger pull, only for the pull of reversed gravity to stop suddenly. However, even before Megalos could reorient himself, an invisible force froze him in the air. "Hold Species. An extremely useful spell. "

Seeing that Megalos could no longer move, Ainz flew away at his maximum speed back to his boat. He planned to remove his limit, and then deal with the enemy as quickly as possible.

However…

Frozen in place, Megalos watched Ainz move away from him, and then slowly, fighting the powerful magic, he flexed his arm.

After all, Heracles could resist Ainz's magic. So what about Megalos?

A fire spell slammed into Cainabel's body, making her grimace.

Fire, the main weakness of the undead...

Cainabel's body was wounded throughout, burnt flesh hung in pieces around her body, and yet something looked terribly out of place.

It was strange that where only singed flesh should have been - Cainabel's charred body continued to bleed. Slowly, a viscous liquid, barely like blood, black in color, dripped out. Cainabel's body was bleeding.

"So many words, how little action!" - the Demon King did not fail to notice Cainabel's wretched appearance, and could not help but taunt her for it - "Tell me, did you really think that you could stop me, us, having only such a pitiful strength? Tell me, did you think it when you were bragging about your power?!"

"Oh, yes", - However, despite the terrible wounds, Cainabel was joyful. Perhaps even too much. Her gaze barely saw her enemy that she barely attacked. "In any other occasion I would have been angry, and would never have allowed my blood to spill on this earth. My blood is a precious resource that shouldn't be wasted on small things like you after all. However…"

A second later, the wounds on Cainabel's body bled even more. It would seem as if all her blood had drained from her body. But even so, her wounds continued to bleed, forcing Cainabel's smile to grow wider and wider, - "The night is close. And it's as hungry as ever…"

"Can you feel it?" Baal hardly took his opponent seriously. Until this moment, he only lazily exchanged spells with his enemy, a stalemate. However, at the moment when the Demon King's power was increased by the Noble Phantasm of Blackbeard - instead of displaying any reaction, Baal only began to fight a little more seriously. His shields became stronger, his spells stronger… and yet, the stalemate continues. However, not a single feature of his face, not a single wrinkle around his lips, changed, not a single bit of worry or confusion appeared on his face. It is as if what is happening all around him was all according to plan.

"Tell me, can you feel it?" At Baal's words, the Demon King froze and looked around him. Weren't they fighting during dawn?!

Slowly the surroundings darkened around him. As if the rays of light from the sun were extinguished. As if the sun, which had peeped out at dawn, suddenly decided to fall into the sea again. The day around the Demon King slowly turned into night again...

"Oh, I see that you feel it", - Baal smiled when he noticed the confusion in the actions of the Demon King, - "Cainabel is already starting... Well, well. We are nearing the crescendo…"

Power:

There is always a Root - for the Root is Everything.

There is always a Legend - for the Legend is the Root of the Root.

There is always Yggdrasil - for Yggdrasil is a Legend.