Shalltear

The gigantic Primal Fire Elemental vanished slowly, as though melting away into nothing. The blazing heat that it left in its wake began to cool off. As the Fire Elemental disappeared, Momonga could feel the link he had to it fading away, like smoke on the wind.

The Primal Fire Elemental possessed extraordinary attack power and stamina, but to Aura, who could ignore the damage of its area effect flames and could nimbly evade its blows, it was little more than a giant target.

Although Aura would still lose HP if she were attacked, Mare the druid would not permit that to occur. In fact, he had cast all sorts of buffs and debuffs to great effect during the battle.

The two of them played their roles as frontliner and rear guard perfectly, with flawless teamwork. At the same time, Momonga could feel the reality of this battle, completely unlike those he had fought in the game.

"Spectacular… the two of you put on a good show."

The twins smiled happily as they heard Momonga's sincere praise.

"Thank you, Momonga-sama! It's been some time since we had to work so hard!"

The two of them tried to wipe off their sweat, but right after they did, more of it beaded on their skin, rolling down their dark skin.

Momonga silently opened his inventory, and withdrew a magic item — a Pitcher of Endless Water.

In YGGDRASIL, there were statuses like hunger and thirst, but neither of those applied to the undead Momonga, so he had no use for items like those. At most, he used them on his mounts.

The glass pitcher was filled with water. Droplets of condensation immediately formed on the surface of the glass; probably because the water inside was very cold.

Momonga then took out a pair of beautiful glasses, filled them with water from the Pitcher, and gave them to the twins.

"Aura, Mare, have a drink."

"Eh? But that's not good, right, Momonga-sama…"

"Y-Yes, I can make water with my magic too…"

Momonga smiled bitterly as he saw Aura waving her hand and Mare shaking his head.

"Think nothing of it. The two of you have always done well. Think of this as my thanks to you."

"Fuwa~"

"Fuee~"

Aura and Mare's ears turned red, and they shyly, nervously reached out to take the glasses.

"Th-Thank you, Momonga-sama!"

"To, to think you would pour water for us, Momonga-sama!"

Was this so delightful?

Aura, who had ceased her protests, took the glass in both hands and downed it in one gulp. Droplets of water escaped the corner of her mouth, down the smooth curves of her pulsing throat and into the jerkin covering her chest. Mare held his cup with both hands and slowly sipped from it. The differences between them were obvious even in the way they drank water.

Momonga touched his throat as he saw the two of them. It felt like there was a thin layer of skin around his neck bones.

To date, this body of his had not felt thirst, so it did not bother him. Although he was well aware that the dead would not feel this way, he could not help but think this was all a joke once he realized that he was no longer human.

Momonga continued touching himself. He had no skin, muscles, blood vessels, nerves, or internal organs. His body was nothing but bones. He vaguely understood it in his heart, but it felt so unreal that he could not help exploring his body with his fingers.

His sense of touch seemed duller from when he was a human being, as though there was a thin layer of cloth between his fingers and whatever he was touching. In contrast, his vision, hearing and other senses were sharper than before.

One might expect a body composed solely of bones to be easily broken, but each bone felt stronger than steel when he touched them.

At the same time, he felt a strange sense of completion and satisfaction, that this was his real body, despite it being completely different from his old one. Perhaps it was because of this feeling that he was not afraid, despite his transfiguration into a set of white bones.

"Do you want more?"

Momonga raised the Pitcher as he asked the twins, who had finished their water.

"Er, thanks! I've drunk enough!"

"Is that so? Then, Mare, do you want some more?"

"Eep! Er, er, I, I've also had enough. I, I don't feel thirsty any more."

Momonga nodded as he took back the glasses, before returning them all into his pocket space.

Aura suddenly whispered, "I thought Momonga-sama would be scarier than this."

"Oh? Really? Well, if you feel that way…"

"Now is good! It's the best!"

"Then we'll leave it at that."

Momonga was taken somewhat aback by Aura's passionate answer.

"Mo-Momonga-sama, are we the only ones that you're nice to…?"

Momonga was unsure how to answer Aura's muttered question. Instead, he patted her lightly on the head.

"Ehehehe."

Aura looked like a puppy that had just seen something she liked, while Mare had a jealous look on his face. Just then, a voice rang out:

"Oya, am I the first to arrive?"

The tone was archaic and formal, but the voice itself sounded like it belonged to a young person. A shadow formed over the ground, and then the shadow turned into what looked like a door, from which a person emerged.

She wore a black ball gown which looked soft to the touch. Her skirt was puffed up into a voluminous bell shape. On top of that was a bolero edged with frills, lace, and ribbons, as well as a pair of long silk gloves. Together, they covered up most of her skin.

Her skin was as pale as wax, and her looks could only be described as stunningly beautiful. Her long silver hair was tied up into a ponytail that descended from one side of her head, exposing her face. Her deep red pupils were filled with a seductive look of delight.

She looked to be fourteen years old, or younger, and her innocent, youthful appearance combined the qualities of cuteness and beauty into a single whole. However, her breasts bulged proudly forward in a decidedly unchildlike manner.

"...Weren't you told not to frivolously use 「Gate」 in Nazarick? We are warded against teleportation, after all. You should be able to walk here, so shouldn't you have come on foot, Shalltear?"

The annoyed voice came from beside Momonga. There was no trace of its previous puppy-like obedience in those cold words, only a burning hostility.

Mare was trembling by the side, and he slowly edged himself away from his sister. In truth, the speed at which the leopard called Aura had changed its spots startled Momonga as well.

The girl who had come here via the highest tier of teleportation magic was called Shalltear. She did not even bother looking at Aura, who was scowling at her. Instead, she swiftly advanced before Momonga.