71

Medusa slowly tried to move her stiff arm.

"NO!" Stheno grabbed at her arm with all her, admittedly, pretty small strength, but it was strong enough that Medusa thought for a second that her arm would be broken any second now. At the very least it would be broken eventually before Stheno finally calmed down.

Right next to Stheno was Euryale, who was pressing her body even closer to Medusa, making her sigh as her sister's hands squeezed her body.

This peculiar situation has been happening for a whole day. Stheno and Euryale have been stuck to Medusa, literally trying to crush her in their arms, not daring to move away from her even a millimeter and also literally holding Medusa in place in her room, more precisely on her bed.

Medusa, of course, was glad that her sisters were a lot freer in expressing their emotions. Her sisters, when the three of them lived on the Shapeless Island, were much more... restrained in their actions. They were much more sarcastic, acerbic and perhaps even cruel. Of course not in an evil way, but rather in the way that an older sister can be cruel to their younger sister, constantly making fun of her, but still loving her.

However, from the very moment of their summoning, both her sisters seeked out Medusa and instead of their usual behavior, they literally tried to strangle her in their arms. It was very cute, pleasant even. But it hindered Medusa's daily activities. She, of course, loved her sisters, but still she didn't really want to lie in bed for 24 hours.

However, disregarding Medusa's complaints, her sisters clung to her with all their might, not letting go of Medusa even for breakfast - and even more they flatly refused to leave Medusa's room.

Honestly, if one would evaluate the situation solely in how it appears, then this behavior could be called if not "logical", then at least "explainable". Stheno and Euryale looked not much older than young adolescents, when compared to Medusa who looked to be in her twenties they looked really young. So two "young" girls seeking safety with their "older" sister made sense. On the other hand, given the characteristics of the Servants and their related legends - all this made no sense. Since in fact, Medusa was the youngest of the Gorgon sisters. And logically speaking, it was she who should have hidden behind the back of her older sisters. However, for some reason, their roles have been reversed.

The name of this reason was...

"Ainz," Medusa uttered the word almost inaudibly, but even so, Stheno and Euryale, barely hearing the name of Medusa's Master, pressed themselves closer to their sister, almost trembling at the mention of Ainz's name.

The reason for this conundrum confused Medusa greatly.

Ainz had killed her sisters, this fact was supposed to anger Medusa.

But at the same time, her sisters were enemies not only of Ainz, but of Medusa herself. They were Baal's subordinates, their enemy. So his actions were completely justified and logical.

But Ainz did not only kill her sisters, he did something else to them... Something neither Euryale nor Stheno would say what exactly happened during their encounter with Ainz - they would only say that it was incredibly painful - and humiliating. Such excessive cruelty should have revulsed Medusa...

It should… but at the same time, all this happened due to the fact that Ainz had lost his temper after learning that she, Medusa, had been betrayed and killed by her sisters. The thought of this warmed the soul of Medusa, forcing her to slowly pull the corners of her lips in an attempt to put a smile on her face.

In other words, this situation was complicated no matter from which side one was to approach it, therefore Medusa experienced all sorts of emotions from processing what had happened. She was angry with Ainz, and was also grateful to him. She condemned his actions, and yet also considered him extremely sweet and even, in a strange sense of the word, romantic. All these conflicting thoughts confused Medusa.

Medusa was completely unable to figure out what she should have felt — for Ainz, for the situation, and even for her sisters.

They indeed killed her - betrayed her even. It was an indisputable fact. Yet at the same time...

Medusa turned her gaze toward Stheno. Her eyes are currently closed, perhaps she had fallen asleep, all the while continuing to hold Medusa with her hands. Her intermittent breathing sometimes went astray, and the pupils behind her closed eyes continued to move randomly. It seemed that she was dreaming. And judging by the cold sweats on her forehead, a nightmare.

Looking at Stheno shivering because of her nightmare , Medusa could not keep being angry at her and could not hate her. Stheno had clearly already paid for her betrayal, and now her older sister, the one who always seemed to Medusa as a bastion of strength and a calm rock in the raging world around her, was a small, fragile and defenseless girl, so in need of protection for her sister. Her younger sister.

Medusa exhaled and stretched her hand in order to pat Stheno on the head, however, at the moment when her hand touched Stheno's hair...

"HE IS COMING!" Stheno instantly jumped away from the bed, almost making Medusa fall after her, "RUN!"

After a second, Euryale also jerked from her sleep, waking up as fast as Stheno did. She also jumped from the bed, yanking Medusa in the opposite direction. Due to the fact that Stheno still held Medusa's other hand, for a second, due to the opposing force, it seemed to Medusa that she would now be torn to pieces.

"RUN!" Stheno let out another panicked cry, and then rushed forward to the only exit from the room. Euryale followed after her - and only Medusa, being abandoned for some reason, blinked in incomprehension of the situation. After a second, as soon as the door opened, Euryale and Stheno together instantly disappeared from Medusa's field of view, disappearing to the corridors while leaving the door wide open.

Medusa blinked again - "What... Could have caused such a reaction in them?"

A second later, Medusa received the answer to her question.

At first, the sensation came as if Medusa had suddenly plunged herself under a cold waterfall - a cold, gloomy and unemotional force seemed to have seized her. The cold made the girl breathe deeply as if before diving into the ocean depths. After a second the reason for her sister's panicked reaction appeared on the threshold of Medusa's room.

A black mantle, as if created from the blackest magic imaginable, encircled the skeletal figure of a creature in whose eyes an implacable crimson flame glowed. This is what Ainz looked like in his real body.

Frankly, until that moment, Medusa hardly thought about how Ainz actually looked - although she knew that his body, provided by Da Vinci, was just a puppet. However, in her mind Ainz's manners, character and behavior were so perfectly matched with the ordinary, unremarkable, but at the same time attractive body of a simple person, that Medusa could not even imagine how different his real appearance would be from his puppet body.

Medusa, even realizing that it was Ainz himself that had appeared before her , her Master, the one whom she had already got used to and even become somewhat close , tried to retreat as far as possible from his presence.

"Oh, Medusa," Ainz looked at her. Medusa was sure that, if he was in his usual body, Ainz would now smile good-naturedly and even sound friendly. But his bare skull, incapable of expressing normal human emotions, and the deep voice gave his words a completely different weight and tenor. Transforming what would normally be an ordinary speech for an ordinary person into the words of a king, speaking with dignity and regal authority.

"Ainz," Medusa, not completely sure how she should address Ainz, entangled in the contradictory signals in her mind, nodded slowly, "Master. "

Aizs stopped for a second.

In reality, the reply was unexpectedly cold - and perhaps even the formal response of Medusa and perhaps it even confused him, but for Medusa the situation looked completely different. When the enormous figure of the undead king froze at the entrance to her room, Medusa felt goosebumps running down her back.

'It seems... That I'm now starting to understand why Stheno and Euryale are so afraid of him…' - Medusa could not help herself. Ainz, whom she seemed to know not so long ago - good-natured and smiling - completely did not fit in her mind with the figure of the powerful undead that stood before her.

"You..." Ainz glanced at Medusa. "Do you know where Stheno and Euryale are?"

"Why are... Are you looking for them?" Medusa couldn't force herself to lie to Ainz, but she also couldn't simply point out her sister's location, not that she actually knows where they are right now.

"This…" - Ainz froze, as if pondering his words, - "It concerns what happened in the Singularity."

"What... What exactly happened there?" It was difficult for Medusa to even look at Ainz, it almost seemed that his presence was pushing down on Medusa.

"Hm..." Ainz looked to be deep in thought about it, after which, looking at the open door, he took a step inside the Medusa room, then he closed the door behind him. After Ainz entered the room it became somewhat cramped. Not only because of Ainz towering two meter tall figure, but also because of the aura of power radiating out from the skeletal figure.

However, contrary to the serious atmosphere slowly descending in the room, Ainz began to look around the room for a second. After spotting a chair next to a desk, he carefully seated himself on the chair. The creaking noise of the chair was somewhat incongruous in the silent room.

"Hmm... I... Slightly lost my temper," Ainz slowly spoke out.

Medusa sighed. She expected such an answer, but to hear it personally from Ainz was very different than assuming such a thing.

"Why?" Medusa glanced at Ainz, waiting for an answer.

The tall skeletal figure seemed to freeze for a second. And then Ainz slowly brought his skeletal hand to his face and...

Scratched the back of his head?

Ainz's unexpected action literally knocked Medusa out of her stupor, forcing her to look at Ainz closely. With a second look Medusa could clearly see the resemblance between the King of the Undead in front of her and the kind Master that she knew of.

Moreover - looking closely, Medusa saw that Ainz is not actually looking at her, but instead away a little to the side, as if... Embarrassed?

An emotion like embarrassment did not fit with the appearance of an undead king so much so that she was forced to look at Ainz differently. The skeleton in front of her was no different than her Master.

"Because..." Ainz hesitated, "Well, that is... I take the concept of family very seriously..."

Ainz's tone was so out of place that it deprived Medusa of her prepared reply.

"When I found out that your sisters had betrayed you..." Ainz looked uncomfortable talking on this subject, but he continued," I lost my temper a little and... I wanted to avenge you."

If someone could translate Medusa's thoughts into sound, then instead of the usual many-voiced chorus, they would now only hear the howling of the wind. Ainz's words shocked Medusa so much that her mind pretty much blanked out.

Of course, she knew that Ainz was riled up after her death, but she didn't really believe that "after, means because of" and did not immediately think that Ainz did such things to avenge her. Rather, she believed that Ainz was enraged because he missed Baal's presence on the island - or even that the Barrier turned out to be a trap - or something like that...

Ainz's made Medusa's heart skip a beat.

"Ah..." "Medusa, after a few seconds in awkward silence, was able to control herself and continue the conversation, "What exactly did you do in the Singularity?"

Ainz sighed and squirmed a little in his chair. Another absolutely human action that made Medusa breathe a lot easier. Yes, apparently it was still the same Ainz, to which she was accustomed to... Just with a different appearance and making a slightly different impression.

"I..." - Ainz sighed again, "I tried out the effect of my two skills... And as a result I killed Stheno and Euryale."

It... It didn't sound so scary.

Of course, there were a lot of skills in the world - and some of them are really terrifying and shock the imagination, or did both at the same time.

On the other hand, apparently these skills belonged to the latter category, being powerful - and, judging by the reaction of her sisters - extremely dangerous.

Medusa exhaled.

"In that case, could you…" - Medusa exhaled, - "Apologize to them?"

It could not be said that Ainz was not in his own right when he acted against Stheno or Euryale - woe to the vanquished, and they really were enemies at that time, so their death was logical and justified. In addition, they also betrayed and killed Medusa.

But still, despite everything that had happened, they were her family. The family that Medusa loved. The family she valued. And even if they betrayed her...

They only returned her old favor. She did kill them in the past.

Ainz froze at the thought, after which he slowly turned his gaze to Medusa and... - "Under no circumstances."

Medusa froze at the sharp reply.

Ainz looked at Medusa seriously.

Until that moment, Medusa had time to look at Ainz - the man - for a few moments and to look at Ainz - the King - and make sure that this King was still the same Ainz that Medusa remembered. But his harsh answer brokered no further argument and was more like a royal decree than the words of a simple Master. Ainz uttered the words like a final judgement.

"But…" - Medusa tried to object, - "Why?"

Ainz froze from such a question.

Why…

How was he supposed to answer this question?

Because his Ainz Ooal Gown was just the same. Because no matter how many times Touch Me and Ulbert fought with each other, Ainz still knew that they appreciated each other, relied on each other and were confident in each other. Because his memories of the member of Ainz Ooal Gown were the only dear thing in his life. Because Nazarick, the only proof of his existence, his achievements in that distant world, was created by Ainz Ooal Gown. Because the lonely and unhappy Satoru Suzuki lived his life without family and friends. Because he always dreamed that there would be someone who would share his joys and sorrows. Because he was Ainz Ooal Gown.

"Because I take care of my Servants," Ainz sighed. He felt like a hypocrite, saying this now, after all the moments when he forgot about his Servants for a variety of reasons... But now, right now, he, like Ainz Ooal Gown, the one who shall not let disgrace to the name of his guild, would take care of them.

Medusa fell silent.

For a second - it seemed to her, only for a second, but after these words... Her heart skipped a beat.

"I made too many mistakes," Ainz inhaled, "And missed too many chances given to me to miss another one. You - Medusa - and the other Servants... You are important to me and I will take care of you."

Ainz exhaled.

"Therefore," Ainz shook his head, "I can't just go and apologize to Stheno and Euryale for what happened. I did what I did - and if retribution for what I did would fall on me, then I will accept it. But I have nothing to apologize for."

Ainz, having finished his speech, bowed his head, as if apologizing.

"Sorry, but I have spoken my word."

Medusa slowly bowed her head.

Not that there was much room for dispute after all that was said. In fact, she could not even find an objection to Ainz's words. He only did what was logical. From his position, his action was not just logical - he did what was only fair to do. Ainz really shouldn't have - and had no reason to apologize to her sisters. All that Medusa could oppose his position was with selfishness "but I want you to get along." From Ainz's position, his act was a manifestation of justice, while Medusa herself desired only to satisfy her own ego.

In other words, it was a principled stand against a selfish desire. It was not even necessary to think about which side would win this confrontation.

Medusa turned her gaze to Ainz, as if trying to see in him some detail that could help Medusa convince her Master. Perhaps, in different conditions, Medusa might even notice something, but not this time.

Perhaps Ainz's words influenced her so much ,or perhaps it was because of her new appearance? - old one? - Ainz's true appearance, but Medusa did not see anything that could help her point of view. Each line of his appearance, his every movement, even his posture expressed absolute conviction in his words. A conviction that is far more powerful than Medusa could hope to break.

"Is it unusual to look at this appearance?" Ainz looked at Medusa, and if not for the absence of a face on his skull, Medusa could have sworn that he was smiling, "Da Vinci is preparing a new puppet for me... So for now I'll have to stay in this body for the next week. I hope that I am not scaring you."

Ainz bowed slightly, in a half-joking tone. However, Medusa herself only could determine that this tone was half-joking only because she had previously communicated with Ainz - his tone still sounded too majestic to easily determine his intentions.

At that moment, Medusa realized that she had seen Ainz's true appearance.

She didn't see any specific detail in Ainz, but she could see him.

The glasses. The glasses that Ainz gave her. A copy of the glasses that she wore before, to be more precise. Then Ainz gave them to her along with the book of Baal, as a reward for the past Singularity. For this...

Medusa was reluctant to think about asking for a reward from Ainz. So he did enough for measure up to the reward that Ainz had given her. Being a Servant, a weapon in the hands of the Master, a monster from the Shapeless Island, Medusa received much more than she deserved. To ask Ainz for something even more... Now, after everything that had happened, it seemed very unfair to Medusa, but...

"Please," Medusa bowed her head, then slowly extended her hands to her glasses, "Please, could you..."

Slowly she took off her glasses.

Having lost the effect of the artifact, she closed her eyes. Again. Her damned gaze would poison her life again, and her punishment would return, but still...

"Please, you could take this back" Medusa held out the glasses to Ainz, trying not to cry from resentment. Getting rid of her great curse... She was ready to sacrifice it for her sisters. Even after everything that had happened.

Ainz only looked at the outstretched glasses in confusion.

There was silence for a second, in which Ainz looked at the glasses, then at Medusa for several times before breathing in. "Do you want it to happen so much?"

Medusa looked up at Ainz, after which, not restraining herself, nodded, facing the magician.

Tears were in her eyes, so that her frozen, not blinking pupil seemed even more ugly in the rays of light than usual, but Medusa only nodded quickly with her head, dropping the salty tears on the bed.

Ainz, still silently sitting still, then stood up.

Medusa, expecting him to take glasses and not even fulfill her wishes, shrank back, as if before a blow. Ainz slowly took one step, then the second, and then slowly sitting next to the girl.

After a second, Medusa felt a touch of cold fabric, soft and light, like silk, and at the same time heavy, like velvet, on her cheeks.

"It's alright..." Ainz's voice was quiet, so Medusa did not immediately realize that he was saying something, "Don't cry..."

Slowly, moving his bony arm, the undead king wiped the tears from the face of Medusa.

Such a surreal picture, someone might be surprised - or even horrified, but Medusa, unable to resist, only hugged Ainz and burst into tears.

"Well, you are crying now…" - Ainz sighed, completely not happy with this result, - "Don't cry…"

Ainz hugged Medusa, making her cry even harder.

It seemed to Medusa that in Ainz's hands she was protected. It was as if someone big and strong was protecting a little girl, desperately clinging to the only good thing in her life, sheltering her from the whole world.

"What kind of a bad Master I am…" - Ainz exhaled upset, - "I made my Servant cry…"

Medusa clutched at Ainz even harder. She desperately wanted to object to Ainz, to tell him how much he underestimated himself, and that he was the best Master in the world, but if she tried, all that would come out of her mouth would be unidentifiable noises, mixed up with sobs. Therefore, Medusa only grabbed hold of Ainz even harder, hugging him with all his might.

"Well…" - Ainz, completely unsure of his abilities to console a sobbing girl, only continued to wield his cloak, trying to wipe the girl's oncoming tears, making her only cry more.

After some time, Ainz abandoned this useless activity, simply hugging Medusa, allowing her to sob on his shoulder.

This went on for several minutes, the silence of the room interrupted only by the Medusa's sobbing and the periodical noises from Ainz head patting Medusa. At least Ainz had heard that young children respond well to such actions - and although Medusa was clearly not a child, that was all Ainz could do in the current situation.

After some time, when Medusa was able to recover her calm and her sobs ceased, Ainz pulled away from the girl, looking at her.

"Use the glasses," Ainz sighed, "I don't know how much of a monster I would be if I took such a thing from you after such a strong reaction..."

Medusa felt disgusted at the thought that Ainz was giving her glasses because of her tears, but at the same time she was too relieved at having it back to object to him.

"Umu…" - Ainz exhaled, after which he looked seriously at Medusa, - "And even so... I can not apologize for what had happened before. And even if I could, I would not. And even if I did, it still would not change what had happened."

Medusa felt her heart freeze.

"But…" - Ainz shook his head, - "Hmm... Good. I can do something else. If you really want it so much that you decided to choose it as your reward... then there is something that I can give you."

Stheno felt her heart beating with such force, it was as if it was trying to break her rib cage and escape from its mad owner.

A light breeze that came along the corridor startled Stheno and made her sharply turn in the direction of the wind, freezing, as if a wild animal in the face of a hunter.

But luckily Stheno did not find any danger, only her sister, Euryale, forcing her heart to calm down even a little.

The air itself was saturated with the sensation of Ainz. That...

Thing.

Walking nearby. Expectantly and mockingly looking at her. A pending moment to again bring Stheno the pain that she experienced.

Stheno shuddered when Euryale laid a hand on her shoulder, after which she looked at her fearfully.

"He's gone," Euryale answered Stheno. Of the two Gorgon sisters Euryale went through less - but even so Stheno saw how hard the girl steeled herself to say just a few of these words - "Nothing is threatening us. We need to go back to Medusa."

Stheno was only able to slowly nod at this, and then, leaning against the wall, slowly moved forward.

Even the obscure shadow in the distance of the corridor, barely darker than the snow-white corridor, looked to Stheno like a lurking Ainz, looking expectantly at the girl, and only having gathered all her willpower could she move forward.

The door to Medusa's room opened easily, allowing Stheno to slowly walk inside - after which Euryale followed right behind, closing the door.

Medusa sat in her place, looking at her sisters with kindness and love, but at the same time with anxiety...

"Fuh…" - Stheno was barely able to say it, - "He left…"

"Not really," an unexpected voice suddenly replied, making Stheno freeze in place.

She knew to whom this voice belonged. She knew who was standing next to her now. She knew that she could not run from him.

Stheno froze in place, not daring to turn toward the speaker.

"Hm, indeed, the impact was greater than I expected..." - Ainz took a step toward the door, cutting off the sisters' path of retreat, "All right, then... Stheno, Euryale..."

Stheno, having neither the will nor the ability to ignore the command in his voice, turned toward Ainz.

He looked exactly as she remembered, with the fire of hatred burning in his eyes, with Darkness itself wrapping around the body of a skeleton. And last but least, the pressure of irresistible power.

Stheno froze completely.

"Medusa," Ainz suddenly mentioned the third sister.

"No..." - Stheno felt how all hope in her eyes was crumbling - "Not Medusa..."

Stheno did a lot of terrible things. She had betrayed Medusa, but only because she tried to save the three of them in the end.

There was no escape from Ainz.

'Run, I'll hold him back!' Stheno would like to shout something like that, but she realized that it was useless. She could not even hold Ainz back even for a second.

"Hmm, you three," Ainz nodded slowly, after which the fire in his eye sockets went out, a gesture similar to a person closing his eyes, "I will not apologize for what happened in the Singularity and I cannot change what had happened... But Medusa pushed me to this decision. So…"

"From this moment," Ainz slowly extended his hand, after which he hugged all three with a broad gesture, "You are under the official patronage of Ainz Ooal Gown. I swear on this name - that the heavens will fall, the seas will dry up and the earth will turn into dusts before anyone dares to hurt you."

"And if anyone dares," at that moment the fire in Ainz's eye sockets lit again, forcing Stheno to hold her breath at the moment when the gaze of her new Master touched her, "He will know a pain a thousand times worse than he can imagine."

After that, Ainz slowly lowered his hand, after which he took a step back, glancing at Medusa. "Is this enough?"

"Yes," Medusa nodded slowly, after which Ainz stepped back.

"In that case, perhaps I should leave," Ainz nodded again, "I don't want to interfere with your family reunion."

Ainz, slowly moving forward, walked around the Gorgon-sisters, after which the sound of the door opening and closing informed them that Ainz had left the room.

"Now we have nothing to fear," the voice of Medusa was calm - and even joyful, "Ainz will protect us from everything."

Protect from everything? Yes, that sounded realistic...

But is there nothing to be afraid of? Oh no, Stheno didn't think so...

They had nothing to fear - except for Ainz.

That which embodied everything that should be feared.

Name: Medusa Gorgon

Ability: Blood Fort Andromeda

Level: 60

An ability that establishes an area around the user in which the adversary receives a constant - albeit not very large - damage, and also loses a significant part of their parameters. Unfortunately, this is where the features of the ability end. Although the size of the created field is quite large and the loss of parameters is substantial, unfortunately this field does not impose any additional penalties, or even the most basic protection against teleportation or other movement restrictions on the enemy who gets inside.

Skill: Mystic Eyes

Skill Strength Level: 90

A skill that is on the edge of becoming an ability. Rather, it can be said that this skill is an "ability", which at the same time scales according to the level of the skill and the user, gaining strength depending on the chosen specialization of the skill owner. In this case, the skill that Medusa possesses is the "Mystical Eyes of Petrification," an ability that, when activated, causes permanent small damage to any target that the player is looking at, additionally imposing a stacking debuff on the physical characteristics of the target, up to complete paralysis and powerlessness of the target. Unfortunately, this ability is easily blocked by a high enough parameter in magic defense or a high enough mana of the target.

Skill: Monstrous Strength

Skill Strength Level: 60

A skill that enhances the player's physical attack in the case of a melee battle. Further enhances the parameters in case of a battle with a target with high positive karma.

Player Comments:

- I don't remember at all what build this is... The skills are terribly motley - did someone try to make a one on one specialized fighter? Or a noob hunter?

- Medusa... Wait a minute, this is that rogue of the fortieth level! Also the summoner! With such skills for hunting noobs with unbalanced parameters! No, well, this is just ridiculous - who was even entrusted with making this build?!

- AAAAA! A summoner with classes of rogue, with high agility, and classes based on the legend of the Medusa, with the skills to fight either with a group of weak enemies, to weaken a crowd, and to kill loners! I'm hysterical, who is so crooked to come up with THIS?! A hundred different skills, and nothing that synergizes well with each other! I'm done...