Volume 13 Chapter 4 Siege Part 3

Sensing Vijar laughing through his nose, Remedios shouted, "Let's go!" It

was clear they had noticed that the other two paladins were weaker than her,

but no good would come of letting them chat about it.

The initial attack would be critical. In order to assuage the fear of the

militia watching from behind them with bated breath, as well as impress on

their opponents how strong she was, Remedios needed to hit him as hard as

she could without considering the pace of the fight at all.

With her Holy Sword in one hand, she rushed toward Vijar, swinging.

Vijar intercepted with his huge battle-ax.

When the two clashed, the air itself seemed to tremble.

There was a commotion among the people in the rear.

Remedios didn't have time to leisurely analyze whether it was admiration

or fear—because the sword she'd put all her strength into had been repelled

by a blow just as mighty.

Having unleashed attacks of even strength, neither weapon was dinged.

It was such a clash that a normal weapon would have bent or chipped

slightly. In other words, Vijar's weapon was enchanted, too.

"Kgh!"

"Nrrrgh!"

Remedios's next swing delivered a shallow cut to Vijar's upper body,

drawing a spray of blood. But at the same time, his battle-ax crashed into her

chest.

Her magic armor protected her from the blade, but the impact knocked the

breath out of her.

Remedios was thrown back by the blow, and Vijar rushed at her and

swung his battle-ax to chop her down the middle.

Without the oxygen to counter, Remedios held up her sword to limberly

parry. The ax gave her goose bumps as it came down a mere hairbreadth

away before thumping into the earth. The ground jolted so hard, she

momentarily felt like she had been thrown.

With his ax in the dirt, Vijar was defenseless, and Remedios jammed her

sword into his face.

"Strong Blow!"

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"Fortress!"

Realizing he had no time to raise his heavy battle-ax, Vijar let go of the

handle and shielded himself with his arm.

Bright-red blood gushed from his right forearm.

But the blade of the Holy Sword didn't reach his face. There were two

reasons for that.

One was that he had used a defensive martial art. The other was that

Remedios's arm was numb, so she couldn't thrust at full power.

Well, then—, thought Remedios, but when she moved to shove the sword

deeper, a flash of pain in her foot stopped her.

Vijar had used one of the forepaws of his lower animal body to swipe at

her legs. His claws were mostly repelled by her greaves, but one of them

managed to tear into her foot.

By that time, he had already raised his ax.

To prevent him from swinging, Remedios closed in a step. Her foot ached

with every move.

"Strong Blow!"

"Strong Claw!"

With a dexterous motion of his ax, Vijar blocked Remedios's lunge.

And Remedios moved smoothly from glancing off Vijar's ax to swiping at

his reinforced forelegs.

When Vijar fell back, Remedios rushed forward to close the gap.

Several exchanges of attack and defense ensued.

Both of them escaped fatal wounds, but with each blow, more blood

flowed.

Remedios was convinced she was ahead.

If things keep going like this, I can win!

Joy welled up inside her.

If she could take out these three subhumans, it would mean she had

protected all the people here. That would restore their faith in the Sacred

Kingdom.

Then they won't have any use for that undead!

Roughly speaking, the difference between a regular warrior and a paladin

is that warriors are the offensive vanguard and paladins are the defensive

vanguard. It's extremely difficult to quantify the difference, but if a warrior's

attack can be considered an 11 and their defense is a 9, then a paladin's attack

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would be 8 and their defense 11. Of course, paladins are able to use magic,

but warriors acquire all sorts of martial arts, so it's ultimately not a simple

comparison. Still, to explain it to someone who knows nothing about them,

that sums it up.

As for which is stronger in a fight against a caster, that would be paladins.

With their divine protection, they have higher resistance against magic than

warriors. For that reason, if Nasrenée was a caster on the same level as

Remedios, she didn't pose too much of a threat.

Then there was Harisha, who seemed in all likelihood to be a monk,

judging by his gear and movements. They often had the upper hand against

casters and thieves, but against a paladin, the paladin would come out on top.

So the primate didn't worry Remedios much, either.

Which was why…

If I can defeat Vijar, there's a very good chance I can slay all three.

Given the choice between fighting Vijar after wearing herself out on the

other two matches or fighting him unharmed, the latter gave her a better

chance of winning, hence her decision to challenge him first. There was no

problem there. Her calculation error—

"Oh dear, you're already dead?"

"Hee-hee-hee. This one, too."

—was not realizing how poorly her subordinates would fare against the

other two.

"What?!"

Had she overestimated the other paladins or underestimated the

subhumans? Or was it both?

"Getting distracted during a battle with me is an insult!"

A furious blow struck Remedios.

"Guh!"

She just barely managed to block it, but the desperate defense had shifted

the advantage from her to Vijar.

"It was Remedios, right? Standing before you is the powerful Vijar,

whose name will soon echo across the land! If you don't run away as fast as

you can, your life will end in mere moments."

As Remedios bit her lip, the sounds of the other fights reached her ears.

"Hee-hee-hee. This one's stronger."

"…Eh, he's no different than the last, is he? I'm not a warrior, so I'm not

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sure, but…"

"I'm Franco, a paladin."

"And I'm another paladin, Galván. You'll be fighting me now!"

Only a few seconds after she heard their voices, the clattering thud of a

body in metal armor hitting the ground sounded twice.

Franco had been a good man. Though he still had a ways to go as a

paladin, he valued harmony and was loved by most. He had been stationed

here because Gustav trusted him, and since Remedios was familiar with his

personality, she had entrusted him with the job of leading the people in this

area.

Galván had just been married. But he didn't know where his wife was

being held. He had suppressed his urge to go search for her in order to help

the masses instead.

It was far too soon for either of them to die.

"You're distracted again!"

An even more vicious attack than before accompanied Vijar's bark.

Remedios leaped toward him, accepting the blow, as she swung her sword in

one smooth motion—at which point, Vijar deftly evaded it.

"Hmph. What's that? A bluff? Or have you trained your body over time to

move that way?" Vijar growled ferociously—not out of wariness but out of

glee.

"Nestling, we're done over here, but you seem to have your work cut out

for you. How about it? Care for a hand?"

"Don't be ridiculous. If I accept help from you to kill her, it'll tarnish my

legacy. The whole point is to win in single combat so word spreads far and

wide."

"Yes, good point, Sir Vijar. Well, what'll we do, then, Lady Nasrenée?

Perhaps rip through that shield wall and proceed—"

"You think I'd allow that?!"

Remedios ignored her opponent Vijar and raced toward the two

unguarded subhumans. But…

"You insolent shrew! I told you, I'm your opponent!"

Vijar wasn't about to allow this to happen. Though Remedios had shown

all her weak points, he didn't chop her with his battle-ax but sent her flying

with a kick. Taking the full brunt of the attack, she slammed into the shields

behind her.

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For a moment, she lost her breath in the impact.

"Eeegh!" The people shrieked in terror.

"Don't get distracted, human! Fight me like you mean it!"

She heard his footsteps as he shouted and approached. If he swung that

huge battle-ax, the people holding the shields would be thrown, and a giant

hole, impossible to stitch back together, would rip open in the formation.

Nearly losing her balance, Remedios stepped firmly and charged back to

meet Vijar, who had already drawn close.

If possible, she wanted to finish him off using only her own power. She

decided to use the energy she had been saving for the other two.

This was the power of Holy Sword Safarlissia that could be used only one

time per day.

It would unleash a boosted Holy Attack.

It was an incredibly powerful attack that only a paladin wielding this

sword could perform.

Her gut said not to do it. But if she didn't kill Vijar this instant, many

innocent people would fall victim to the other two subhumans.

This…is for Lady Calca!

"—!"

With a wordless battle cry, Remedios shook off her instincts crying out in

alarm and mentally gave the command to her weapon. At the same time, she

prepared the Holy Attack.

Sacred light suffused the sword, and its blade shone twice as bright.

Supposedly, the more evil one was, the more dazzling the light appeared

when looking at the sword, and attacks in this state were difficult to evade or

block. "Supposedly" because the glow Remedios saw wasn't very

impressive.

She swung the Holy Sword from overhead with all her might.

With her balance off, it must have been easy to anticipate the arc of her

blade, and Vijar had no trouble blocking it with his battle-ax, but—

"—!"

With another wordless cry, Remedios continued bringing her sword down

against the ax.

She wasn't trying to land a hit by winning a contest of strength.

The light of her attack traveled along the arc, past the ax's blade, and into

Vijar's body.

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This was Holy Sword Safarlissia's greatest move.

A divine attack that disregarded all defense and protection.

The toughness of the armor, scales, or outer skin made no difference. It

could even penetrate enchantments on equipment, so this was an unstoppable

attack that could not be blocked with a weapon or shield.

Dodging instead of blocking would spare the target from a direct hit, but

after being blinded by the dazzling blade, how could anyone reliably evade

Remedios's attack?

As the blinding wave dissipated, the holy light in the blade went out.

But then Remedios's eyes widened.

Despite the direct hit, Vijar didn't seem hurt at all.

"…Huh? That was an awfully flashy move, but it hardly hurt at all. Is it

all just for show? I mean, that caught me by surprise, but…"

Remedios was astounded.

He's not evil!

This attack was effective in proportion to the opponent's wickedness.

Conversely, if they weren't very evil at all, it dealt very little damage. To

someone who possessed a good nature, it would do virtually nothing. In other

words, Vijar, who hadn't been hurt, was not a paragon of virtue, but neither

was he evil.

But he's causing so much suffering! He's invading our country, yet he's

not considered evil?!

"Hee-hee-hee. That was a tremendous light, Sir Vijar. Are you sure you're

not hurt?" asked Harisha, bleary-eyed.

"That was so bright… The light is still burned into my eyes," Nasrenée

grumbled.

That was a mistake. Her gut had been right; she shouldn't have used this

attack on Vijar.

After moving his arms and legs to confirm nothing was wrong with his

body, Vijar shrugged. He appeared unguarded, but there were no openings

Remedios could spot.

"…Tremendous light? I dunno. Didn't seem like much to me."

"…Vijar, I'm surprised. If you could take that attack and be fine…I may

have misjudged you."

"Hoh-hoh! So you finally get it? Ha-ha-ha. Now then, human. You've

been an excellent foil for me. If you surrender now, I'll grant you a death free

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of suffering."

"Cut it out—that's not even funny! This match hasn't been decided yet!"

Remedios raised her sword and shouted at the three subhumans.

And it was true. Remedios still had plenty of fight in her. Raising her

injured hand, she cast a healing spell. A delicate warmth took her pain away.

If he's not evil, then I can't use most of my paladin skills against him…but

the other two said the light was bright, so I can just save the skills for them.

She would simply have to face Vijar as a plain warrior.

"Hee-hee-hee. Then we'll leave it to you, Sir Vijar. I suppose we'll mop

up the humans over there."

"What?! You dirty—!" All the paladins she had called to fight were dead.

There was no way the levies could handle those two. "I won't let you!"

Remedios moved back to a position from which she could confront all

three of the subhumans.

"You seem to want to fight all of us, but we told Vijar we'd let him handle

it."

"Hee-hee-hee. Our objective is to exterminate the humans in this city. We

can't just concentrate on you. Lady Nasrenée, what if you made all those

humans behind her vanish with your power?"

"Yes, hmm…"

Nasrenée manifested magical energy in three of her four hands. One was

chill, one was fire, and one was lightning.

"Shit!"

Remedios sprinted toward the female subhuman—

"I've been telling you over and over! Why do you refuse to listen? I'm

your opponent!"

Vijar's roar was accompanied by a sweeping battle-ax swing that sent

Remedios flying when she blocked it with her sword.

At this point, she knew it was impossible to deal with Nasrenée while

facing Vijar. She could leap at Nasrenée, but in exchange for blocking one of

her attacks, she would open herself up to Vijar.

Impossible…? I can't accept that! Saying I can't is just an excuse!

The groans of the people stirred her heart.

Remedios didn't want to embarrass herself in front of these ordinary

citizens, who were standing their ground despite their terror because they

believed in her.

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She would never—she was the only one who would never give up on

Calca's ideal: a country where no one cries.

"Militia! Full retreat!"

As she gave the order, she steeled her resolve.

One hit won't kill me. I'll use Fortress and rush that female!

Perhaps misunderstanding something, Vijar chuckled as Remedios set off

running.

"Oh-ho? You seem so determined. That's it! Fight with all you've got!

Make it a battle that will go down as legend! Duel Declaration!"

"Huh?"

"Gwaaaaaargh!" Vijar roared with a special power. Remedios had been

changing course for Nasrenée, but now her feet carried her toward Vijar as if

they'd gone haywire. And it wasn't only her feet. Her blade, her attention,

and her gaze were all focused on Vijar, and she couldn't turn away.

"Fireball!"

A tier-three area-of-effect attack spell whizzed past her into the militia

formation. Remedios may have been able to withstand such magic, but for

the civilians, it would be fatal—

"Wall of Skeleton!"

A grotesque wall of skeletons appeared before the militia, and the Fireball

spell splashed off it.

Someone yelped in surprise.

First, because the situation was incomprehensible. But the surprise

gradually transformed—because they spotted a figure floating down to the

top of the horrifying bone wall as if gravity didn't apply to it.

And its voice spoke with no bitterness and so much kindness, it felt out of

place on the battlefield.

"I realize this could be a valuable lesson about war, but I can't watch a

three-on-one fight. You don't mind if I join, do you?"

The owner of the voice was an undead.

There wasn't a single person in the city who didn't know who he was. It

was none other than the same person who had refused to fight on this

battlefield because he needed to recover his mana.

It was the King of Darkness, Ainz Ooal Gown.

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Whooooooo! An earthshaking cheer went up from behind the wall.

Remedios clenched her hand around her sword.

"Wh-who's this?"

"…Looks to be an elder lich. Apparently, some varieties don't have any

skin. But…an elder lich that can block my magic? Plus, that magnificent

robe… Could it be…? Or does he have an immensely powerful master

controlling him from somewhere else?"

The voices of the subhumans didn't reach Remedios. The sounds entered

her ears, but she didn't understand them. That was how hard she was trying

to suppress her intense hatred. She didn't even notice that Vijar had let his

guard down.

—Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Why is he here?! Why are they bathing him

in applause?! Why?! Why?! This nasty undead!

On some level, the calmer part of Remedios knew it was a natural

reaction, since he had saved them from certain doom. But the part of her that

could never forgive them for cheering for an undead was far stronger. Before

her lay the dead paladins, who had died for them.

You would cheer for the guy who showed up late, but not for those who

fought to protect you?!

It made her want to rip her helmet off, hurl it to the ground, and roll

around tearing her hair out.

Desperately suppressing her rage, she asked the undead perched on the

bone wall, "Why are you here?"

The King of Darkness froze. Then the crimson flames burning in his

vacant orbits turned from the subhumans to Remedios.

"…Why…am I here…? My intention was to help, but…?"

"…I see."

Why didn't you come sooner? You were waiting for the paladins to die,

weren't you? Because you wanted to look cool in front of the people!

She wanted to spit those thoughts at him. But—

"Then I'll leave it to you." She couldn't say she was counting on him. She

didn't want to. "Please remove the wall."

"Hrm?"

"I'll leave it to you!" she shouted before managing to control herself.

"Please remove the wall. Can't you do that?"

"…Sure I can."

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The wall beneath the king's feet disappeared. The reason he didn't fall

must have been because he was using Fly or something.

Remedios opened her back up to Vijar completely. She didn't care if he

cut her down from behind. She would be able to laugh at the King of

Darkness for his failure to protect her.

But—perhaps unfortunately for Remedios, ruled as she was by this selfdestructive despair—she made it back to the militia lines without being

attacked by the subhumans.

The levies looked somewhat frightened. Was her face that upsetting?

"The King of Darkness can take care of this position! We'll go reinforce a

location where the situation is more precarious!"

When she gave the order, the atmosphere was one of confusion, and the

troops exchanged glances.

"Why are you hesitating?!"

When Remedios glared at them, one stepped forward and mumbled, "Ah,

n-no. It's just…you're leaving His Majesty the King of Darkness…on his

own…?"

"The King of Darkness is strong! Right? This'll be no problem for him.

Let's go!"

Remedios set off with the militia who couldn't help but keep looking back

numerous times. They headed for another battlefield.

Staring at the empty space where they had been, Ainz mumbled, "Huh…?

That jerk, she actually saddled me with the whole fight."

The situation was so ludicrous, he let his true feelings show in spite of

himself.

Wouldn't that normally be a "let's team up" sort of scene? How can you

just shove everything off on the one who came to rescue you? You'd think

she'd at least hesitate and ask if it was all right first… She didn't even thank

me for saving her! What's up with that?

He felt the irritation in him rising. But he wasn't furious, so the emotion

wasn't automatically suppressed. A smoldering anger remained, however.

It felt like he had to work overtime to cover for someone else's screwup,

but then the person responsible left first, saying they had an errand to run.

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No…

I was more angry then. I mean, I had Yggdrasil to get home to… The

guild had plans, so me being late caused trouble for everybody! Although

everyone laughed and forgave me when I told them what had happened…

With fuel added to his smoldering anger, it grew into a blaze. And was

forcibly extinguished.

"Hmm… My anger was checked just now, but I'm actually still upset. I

don't think I've ever been treated so disrespectfully," Ainz mumbled to

himself.

People had shouted at him to shut up before, but that was a completely

different situation. For starters, he had raced to the rescue despite their

understanding that he would not participate in this battle. Anyone with some

common sense would have treated him a bit differently.

Everyone Ainz had met so far had an understanding of basic courtesy.

Maybe that was the reason for his surprisingly intense displeasure?

When he dug further back in his memories as Satoru Suzuki, he seemed to

remember meeting a few people like Remedios. Not that that was any

consolation.

Ainz glared at the three subhumans as if this was all their fault.

He knew he was just taking his frustrations out on them.

After being saved from such a dangerous situation, Remedios's opinion of

Ainz should have improved a zillion percent; she should have apologized

profusely for her past rudeness and set about working hard on all sorts of

things for him. That was why he had waited up in the sky, using Perfect

Unknowable, until she was in a tight spot and then swooped in to save her at

the most opportune moment.

But this was the treatment he got instead.

Of all the results he could have gotten, this was the most

incomprehensible.

If he hadn't met his quota as the end of the month drew near and a

coworker came to save him, he would have been bursting with gratitude. Of

course, his savior would have already finished their own work, so they would

be going out of their way to help on their own time.

Watching the battle with a bird's-eye view, Ainz had grasped the whole

situation. There were several areas more precarious than this one. He even

knew the little girl who was always scowling at him was in danger.

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Still, he had come here because he figured that if he was going to make

someone indebted to him, it was better to hook the bigger fish—the

commander of Sacred Kingdom Roebel's Paladin Order.

But…

"I really am a bit offended," he murmured in spite of himself. Just then, he

heard a grating laugh.

"Hee-hee-hee. Seems like you've been left high and dry. Hee-hee-hee.

How sad, how sad."

"An elder lich. And one with exceptional power as a caster. We need to be

careful. I don't know that spell he created the wall with, but it must be fairly

high tier."

"Hmph. So he's a caster? That doesn't make me very eager to fight. I

can't get my praises sung in legends unless I defeat a warrior."

The three subhumans chatted away, seeming to have regained their

composure. Ainz turned to the primate one who had laughed.

"That's no problem. We'll kill him and then—"

"Shut up," Ainz interrupted and silently cast the tier-eight spell Death.

The subhuman crumpled slowly to the ground with a twitching smile still

on his face.

"…Huh? What did he—?"

"I said shut up." Ainz silently cast Death again.

The four-legged subhuman collapsed in the same way.

The lone survivor didn't seem to understand what was happening, but she

knew who had caused it to happen.

"Y-you did this? Both of them…in an instant…?"

Her face was branded with fear, and her whole body was trembling.

"Yeah, uh-huh." He flicked a silent Death spell at her. "Hrm?"

She wasn't dead. Ainz's spell had been ineffective.

The moment he realized that, he immediately switched gears and entered

the mental state that could be called combat mode.

Was it a racial trait that had blocked it? Or a magic spell? Did she just

have resistance? Or did an enchanted item defend her? Could it have been

something else?

A one in ten thousand fluke was not completely out of the question, but

Ainz found it hard to believe she could have resisted the attack with her own

power. He had been observing the three subhumans as they fought. Even if he

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hadn't seen them at full strength yet, he certainly didn't get the impression

that she could weather the raw output of his magic.

When he wondered, Now what? he figured he should be cautious and give

the enemy a turn.

And besides, it was possible this was a chance to acquire intel he couldn't

get anywhere else. If this was an opportunity to see the cards of an opponent

who could block his spells, he definitely wanted to take a peek at their hand.

"Hrm… It doesn't matter what she did. What a waste of time. If I had

known this was going to happen, I would have forsaken that woman and gone

to assist elsewhere. If I was going to fight alongside that one, then I should

have taken some extra time to make it seem like I won after a rough battle…"

Before her stood a rambling undead.

What's with this guy…? There's no way an undead would naturally ally

with humans. He must be controlled by a necromancer. But he's so

powerful…

She had no idea what he had done, but the fact was, he had killed two

warriors as strong as her in an instant. Who could control such a powerful

undead?

If his fingers pointed her way, would death rain down on her, too?

Aside from Evil Emperor Jaldabaoth, the only ones she knew who could

do something like that were maybe his great demon aides.

There's no way! Only a god could control an undead who compares to

those mighty demons! There can't be a necromancer that powerful!

If the human world had a necromancer that strong, the subhuman alliance

wouldn't have been able to invade like this.

Should I run? Should I run while I have the chance? Is it impossible?

She didn't have any spells that were handy for fleeing. She had never

been in such a tight spot before, so she had never felt the need to acquire one.

Then…the only way to live is to press forward!

"Ahhhhhhhh!" With a battle cry to rouse her spirit, she cast a spell with

trembling lips.

There was a tier-four arcane spell called Silver Lance. Though it did

physical damage, it also had effects of the silver attribute and brought

incredibly destructive power to bear on enemies vulnerable to silver. Not

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only that, it had the special piercing attribute and could do more damage to an

enemy not wearing armor. The downside, then, was that armor could greatly

reduce its potency.

Nasrenée's ace move was her own variation on that powerful spell.

Burning Lance, which dealt fire damage.

Freezing Lance, which dealt ice damage.

Shocking Lance, which dealt lightning damage.

All three dealt purely elemental damage that couldn't be reduced with

armor, and they boasted the same piercing capability as Silver Lance, making

them all brutal spells.

Naturally, such baleful magic came at a price, and they cost far more

mana than a comparable tier-four spell.

She cast three of the strongest spells at her disposal all at the same time.

One would already drain quite a lot of mana, but she invoked three

simultaneously. Combined with the fact that simultaneous casting itself

consumed additional mana, using that much energy at once made her feel

floaty, like her consciousness was fading, if only for a brief moment.

"Periiiiiish!"

The three lances flew toward the undead—and disappeared.

"Huh?!"

She couldn't understand what had just happened before her eyes. If he had

taken the hit but endured it, that would have made sense. But the lances had

vanished without a trace.

"Uh? Um? Wh-what?!"

"…I gave you time, and this was all you could come up with? I assume

that was supposed to be your ace move? Hmph. I guess I didn't need to be

cautious and give you a chance after all. I've spent enough time on this. Just

die already. Maximize Magic: Reality Slash."

5

There's a raven-black world

I don't know what I am

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My eyes seem open, but I don't know what eyes are

I don't know the meaning of raven-black or world, either

So I don't know why those things come up

I don't know anything

I'm disappearing

I don't know what it means to disappear

But I'm disappearing

Suddenly, though, I feel something pulling me

Up, down, right, left, toward the middle, to somewhere…

The completed world draws me in

A poor soul who was made whole by friends' creations

A closed-minded soul who thought there was no greater treasure

And then…the world is awash in a bright-white light

A great sense of loss…

A break from solitude…

Neia Baraja blinked repeatedly, trying to bring her blurry vision into

focus.

She felt like something had happened, but she couldn't remember

anything. Just that she had been fighting with the subhumans. What

happened?

"…That was a close one," said a quiet voice, and Neia turned her

unusually piercing, half-open eyes toward the sound.

It looked like darkness.

Not the type of darkness that frightened children. The kind of darkness an

exhausted person took comfort in.

It was the King of Darkness, Ainz Ooal Gown.

"Your…Maj…esty…"

Neia reached out without thinking, like an anxious child reaching for her

father…

"Neia Baraja. Don't try to move too much. Leave this to me and rest."

Behind him, Neia could see subhumans frantically trying to attack him.

They stabbed, slashed, and punched.

But the King of Darkness paid them no mind. He spoke kindly to Neia as

if nothing were happening at all.

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Neia recalled what had happened when he fought Buser.

Meanwhile, the king reached into his robe, and after seeming to hesitate

for a moment, he pulled out a poisonous-looking purple potion. Potions were

usually blue.

Even when he sprinkled the poisonous-looking potion over her, Neia

didn't worry. Whatever His Majesty did had to be the right course of action.

Her prediction was right, of course. The purple liquid healed her wounds

instantaneously. It seemed even the Nation of Darkness's potion colors were

different.

"You seem pretty far from a full recovery, but first let's get rid of your

fatigue… This is annoying, tch. It seems the militia has been wiped out…

Ah, but it looks like there are some over there. In that case…"

The king turned to face the subhumans attacking behind him.

Combat was still raging in various locations throughout the city, and

people were dying with each passing second. But for that moment, Neia

forgot all about it. She was captivated by how heroic the King of Darkness

looked as he stood up to protect her.

She no longer felt any worry or anxiety about the huge subhuman army.

This was the one she had hoped for.

So he was here. I see…

Neia felt certain that she had received a perfect answer to the question that

had been on her mind.

The King of Darkness casually shot off a spell.

Dazzling lightning crackled in the sky over the wall. It was apparently a

spell called Chain Dragon Lightning.

The subhumans on the wall were completely wiped out. It was over so

quickly, it was hard to believe a desperate battle had been unfolding only

moments ago.

"D…id…you…get them…all?"

"No, there is fighting still going on some distance from here, so I didn't

catch them all. It wasn't— Napalm. Okay…now that's all of them. I guess I

have to finish off the next fools who climb up, too. Widen Magic: Wall of

Skeleton."

Outside, where the subhuman army was, a massive brace of skeletons

towered as if they were reinforcements come to hold up the city wall. Her

view was blocked, so she couldn't see, but she could hear the screams of the

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subhumans that had been coming up the ladders. And the sounds of them

falling and hitting the ground.

"And then all that's left are the ones out there in formation… But I sent

some undead out before coming here. They'll finish them off sooner or later."

As he said that, he took out another potion. This one was completely

different from the last, in a stunningly beautiful, delicate bottle. She didn't

know what the potion's effect would be, but she could tell by looking that it

was valuable.

"I…I'm all right…Your Majesty…"

"…Don't hold back. I'm sorry I was late saving you."

Shielding the upper half of his face with his hand as if it was bright out,

the King of Darkness sprinkled the potion on her. The weakness in her body

melted away. But she still felt lethargic. It was as if something inside her had

been whittled down. But in the same measure—no, to an even greater extent

—she felt a warmth gathering at her core.

Like this, she could get up. She still hurt here and there so much it brought

tears to her eyes, but she couldn't bear to remain in this impolite posture

before the one who had saved her.

"Don't, Miss Baraja. There's no need to get up."

When she tried to move, a hand pressed her shoulder back down till she

was lying flat again.

"We can have them carry you…as you are. Hey, over here!"

He must have been waving to militiamen.

Then Neia realized with a start—that she had been so moved, she had

neglected to ask the question she absolutely had to ask.

"Your Majesty, will everything be all right? With you coming to save us.

You used up the mana you were saving for the fight with Jaldabaoth."

"It'll be fine. I couldn't just stand by and do nothing."

"Your Majesty…" Something clicked inside her. "I understand."

"Hmm? You understand what?"

The King of Darkness waited for Neia to continue.

"I understand what justice is now."

"Oh, you found your sense of justice? Good for you… Is it about

protecting the weak or something?"

His voice was kind, so she answered with confidence.

"It's you, Your Majesty. You are justice."

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The King of Darkness froze for just a moment.

"...…Hmm?"

"I understand now! You are justice, Your Majesty!"

"...…Oh, I see. You're tired. You should take a good rest. When

you're tired, all sorts of crazy ideas pop into your head. You don't want to

flail around in embarrassment after the fact, right?"

"I am tired, but more than that, I feel so much better knowing that I wasn't

wrong, that you really are justice!"

"N-no, like I said before, I'm not justice. Look, justice is the way of

thinking where protecting the weak is a matter of course—stuff like that. It's,

uh, usually considered an…abstract concept?"

"No. Justice without strength is meaningless. And power alone, like

Jaldabaoth has, isn't justice, either. So having power and using it for the right

purpose, like saving others—that's true justice. And that means that you,

Your Majesty, are justice!" Neia said, wide-eyed. The King of Darkness

suddenly held a hand over her eyes as if he was putting an infant to bed. The

cool touch of his hand's bones made Neia's cheeks relax into a smile.

"...…Okay. If you talk too loud, you can feel it in your wounds, can't

you? Let's put a pin in that and discuss it later."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Hearing multiple sets of footsteps, she shifted her gaze to see paladins and

members of the militia jogging over.

"Your Majesty, thank you for coming to save us."

"Don't mention it." The King of Darkness slowly got to his feet as he

replied.

Feeling lonely as he was about to go, Neia nearly reached out for his robe,

but she realized what an embarrassing thing that would be to do and managed

to hold back.

"Actually, do mention it. And then return the favor. I'd like you to take

Miss Neia Baraja somewhere safe. You can't see them from here, but the

undead I created are out at the subhuman camp. I think it'll be fine to keep

minimal personnel here for a while."

"Your Majesty—"

"Neia Baraja. And subjects of Roebel. Leave the rest of this to me. I

promise I will save as many of this city's people as possible." He floated into

the air. "Also, sorry—but could you transport those three subhuman corpses

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for me? They were powerful, so I'd like to examine them thoroughly."

He pointed at the three bodies. They seemed quite impressive.

"Collect them, gear and all. You can be rough with the bodies, but take

care not to break their items. Thanks!"

After watching the king fly away, a paladin turned to Neia. "Squire Neia

Baraja, we'd like to transport you as you are, but…we don't have anything to

use as a stretcher. Are you able to stand?"

"Yes, I'll manage."

She slowly got to her feet. Her legs trembled, and when she put her

weight on them, they hurt. One of the militiamen lent her a shoulder to hold.

When she peered over the side of the wall, the unit that had been guarding

the west gate was gone, and there wasn't a single corpse, either. The clanging

of swords she heard on the wind was fairly distant. It seemed like descending

via the tower and taking the shortest route possible would be fine.

Scanning the sky for the king, who had flown off, and feeling

disappointed to not find so much as an outline or blip, Neia entered the tower.

As Ainz visited attack magic down on the subhumans who had invaded the

city, he thought over the events that had just occurred and frowned.

What a huge loss. I really went in the wrong order. I should have

prioritized Neia Baraja over that horrible woman.

By choosing to rescue Remedios Custodio first, he had been late getting to

Neia. And as a result, Neia had died. Which meant Ainz had to use a high-tier

wand to resurrect her—because he didn't want her to turn to ashes like some

lizardmen did in his previous revival attempts, and he didn't know what level

she was.

To be frank, it wasn't clear if the cost of resurrecting Neia was

proportionate to the benefits Ainz and Nazarick would receive. That said,

having completely failed to put Remedios in his debt, he decided to resurrect

Neia to at least have someone who owed him.

…Would a tier-seven Resurrection Wand have done it? Maybe I went

overboard. It'll take another hour for the ring to free up…

Of his eight rings, Ainz was looking at the one on his right thumb.

A Ring of Mastery: Wand.

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It was an ultrarare, boss-dropped artifact.

As a rule, wands containing spells could be used only by casters who had

acquired magic of the same type. For example, a wand loaded with the tierone faith magic spell Light Healing could be used only by a faith caster.

Using a spell from a different type of magic required a staff, which was more

expensive.

A patch later gave all players access to some wands, but a tier-nine True

Resurrection Wand wasn't one Ainz could normally use.

Yet, his ring made it possible.

The only thing was he could use only one type of wand at a time. After

that, there was an hour-long cooldown before he could switch. Using the ring

consumed mana, too, so it was a costly item overall.

Since it was so rare, there weren't many Ainz Ooal Gown members who

had one; the only reason Ainz did was because Amanomahitotsu gave it to

him when he quit.

Well, I doubt I'll need to use that wand right away, so I guess I don't need

to worry. Huh, but I just noticed if you cover her eyes, she actually seems to

respect me. Her every word just… Does this mean she trusts me now? Hmm.

I wonder.

Ainz recalled her reaction.

I feel like she was truly grateful…but also like she was glaring at me. Her

face is so chilling. Maybe I should recommend she wear sunglasses.

But he figured he would never be able to say such a thing. He knew from

their time in the carriage together that she was self-conscious about her eyes.

If he told a woman in the office who had BO, You stink, to her face and

handed her a bottle of perfume, how would she react?

I get the feeling the respect I've cultivated would vanish, and all that

would be left is hostility…

And Ainz—Satoru Suzuki—didn't have the stones to say such a thing.

At that point, he spotted some subhumans below and fired an area-ofeffect spell to wipe them out. In response, the militiamen, who had been

fighting them, waved their arms up at him in such huge arcs that a whooshing

sound effect would have seemed natural. Ainz raised a hand—he would have

moved it only slightly, but since he was so far away, he raised it higher—to

reply.

That's right. I'm the friendly King of Darkness. Be grateful, everyone…

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But seriously, does resurrection magic drive people insane or make them act

weird? If she was just excited, that's fine, but…

He was thinking of Neia.

No matter how he looked at it, that had been a strange interaction. When

they parted before the battle, she had been normal, but once he revived her,

she started acting like that.

Is she deranged? Can magic cure it? If it's an effect of resurrection, that's

a bit scary. It would suck if her humanity warped over time or something.

Her murderous eyes had been abnormally rapt and seemed to shine with a

disturbing inner light.

I mean, she was mistaking me for justice. Will she recover after resting…?

Oh, almost forgot.

Ainz turned his gaze toward the enemy camp.

It was partially destroyed, and soul eaters raced through the mess of

fleeing subhumans. That was all it took for their instadeath aura to wipe them

out. And after devouring so much, the soul eaters grew even more powerful.

When soul eaters appeared in Yggdrasil, players generally encountered

them at a reasonable level, so they only dealt instant death once every few

hundred times. Which is why they were never able to eat any souls.

But this time was different. Their chance to really flex their ability had

arrived.

"Souls… Dang, I should have done an experiment."

Ainz quickly descended to the ground. Then he used Create Middle-Tier

Undead to create a soul eater.

Go.

When he gave the mental command, the soul eater set off running. At the

same time, he gave an order to the soul eaters already trampling subhumans

to their hearts' content outside—to leave enough prey for the new one to eat

its fill.

Undead made from corpses didn't disappear after a set time. But why was

that?

If it's the soul that's the medium, not the flesh, then it's possible that soul

eaters, having eaten souls, won't disappear. Not that I have a particular use

for the answer either way. But it's better to know than not.

He flew into the air again to confirm the safety of the city. He had

mopped up the vast majority of the subhumans, but it was best to take every

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precaution.

Urk, that aggravating woman is down there. I'll just ignore her.

Shifting his attention away from Remedios, Ainz flew around.

Wherever he went, he heard cheers. Waving back at the people as he

confirmed there were no subhumans—that the combat had been brought to an

end—he headed for the war room. He would return to Nazarick if he had time

after getting through all the annoying discussions he had to have.

"This had better all go well…"

An overpowering anxiety welled up within him until it was automatically

suppressed. But the feeling like a gradual seeping of icy water remained.

I need to Message Demiurge and tell him I'll see him in Nazarick.

Once Ainz had made his move, victory was all but assured. After wiping out

the subhumans in the city and tending to two other matters, Ainz returned to

his room.

His first errand had been to pop into Caspond's quarters and ask him to

take care of the little odds and ends that were left. Mainly, he told him they

could have all the food and other items—besides anything enchanted—that

were left at the subhuman camp after it had been overrun.

Common sense would dictate that whatever the subhumans had possessed

would belong to Ainz now, since he had single-handedly annihilated their

camp. Throwing everything into the exchange box would probably yield

some decent income, but keeping it all for himself could make the people feel

less indebted to him after he had worked so hard to set up this situation. So he

decided to take a strategic loss and yield most of the loot to the Sacred

Kingdom. Of course, there might have been valuable magic items in the mix,

and he had no intention of giving those up.

Really, Ainz should have gone to the camp on his own to scope things out

using Magical Vision Boost or See Through Mana along with other

investigation spells, but he didn't feel it was necessary. Demiurge was

already aware of what magic items the subhumans possessed. Even if he had

missed one, it wouldn't be something that could pose a threat to Ainz. If there

had been something dangerous, it would have stood out.

His other errand had been to pick up the items the three stronger

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subhumans had been carrying. As expected, no one had swiped anything, and

he was able to acquire their enchanted gear without a hitch. Of course, he had

an idea how valuable the items were from the amount of mana they

contained, but he still wondered if there might not be something that made

them unique.

Dropping the items in a heap on his bed, his plan was to appraise each one

using magic, but he had something he needed to do first.

"It's time!" he said out loud.

Partly it was to psych himself up, but that wasn't the only reason.

It was a necessary step before contacting Demiurge with Message.

When Ainz pulled out a scroll—Demiurge brand, naturally—and

activated it, rabbit ears sprouted from his skull.

He used them to listen in on his surroundings, but there didn't seem to be

anyone snooping. But that wasn't enough to give him peace of mind. Given

the existence of magic that erased sounds, such as the tier-two spell Silence,

and similar thief abilities, the lack of noise alone wasn't enough to declare the

coast clear.

It's all thanks to Demiurge and the ranch he runs that I can use so many

scrolls. And the money for creating the scrolls can be acquired by just tossing

a bunch of produce into the exchange box. I've felt this way for a while, but

Nazarick is starting to become pretty efficient…

For tier-one spells like Rabbit Ears, he had been able to make do with

regular parchment that could be found in this world, but for anything much

higher, it had been necessary to use materials left over from the Yggdrasil

era. Now their production covered some of that resource consumption.

Yes, they could swap out materials for only up through tier-three spells,

but Demiurge's work was still a huge contribution. He was, without a doubt,

the one who had accomplished the most. In second place was the one who

perfectly managed Nazarick's day-to-day, Albedo.

Continuing with his preparations, Ainz used Create Lower-Tier Undead to

create a wraith.

Take a look around and see if there is anyone watching me.

Following his orders, the wraith exited the room without opening the

door. Since wraiths had astral forms, they were able to pass through walls.

There were limits when it came to thick or dense obstacles, so they didn't

work in every situation, but the walls of this building posed no challenge.

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Ainz focused his attention to his magic ears.

Could any thief, even one extremely good at hiding, stay completely still

without moving so much as a muscle in the presence of an undead who had

appeared all of a sudden scattering an aura of Fear? They would need enough

concealment skills to evade the wraith as well. Of course, it wasn't hard to

trick a lower-tier wraith, but doing it all at once would be quite a feat.

In the first case, Ainz didn't believe anyone was that capable. If someone

like that existed in this country, they would have been sent to fight in the two

most recent battles.

Still, I can't rule out the possibility that the people of this country are still

on guard against me and are hiding their hero. But given that woman's

personality, I highly doubt it. If there was someone like that around, I assume

Demiurge would've told me about them by now.

But as soon as he finished the thought, he wondered if that was really true.

Was it possible Demiurge thought Ainz would know even if he didn't

inform him?

…Agh, the more I think about this, the more my stomach hurts.

If there was an oversight that big, he would have to brace himself and call

Demiurge and Albedo together for a talk.

Soon the undead returned.

"Spot anyone?"

The undead replied, "Negative." And Ainz didn't hear anything strange,

either.

"Got it. Then hide in the wall and patrol the area."

Watching the undead enter the wall, Ainz made up his mind.

Okay, now I have to Message Demiurge.

It was a simple matter, but he was having trouble getting himself to do it.

He felt just like an employee on business who knew he would get chewed

out by his boss when he got back to the office.

But he couldn't put it off forever, and Demiurge contacting him first

wouldn't be any more pleasant.

"C'mon, me, let's do this!"

With that small cheer for himself, he sent Demiurge a Message. He had

simulated the conversation plenty of times in his head. All he had to do now

was actually say the words.

But before he had a chance to go through the motions of taking some deep

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breaths to relax—and only mere moments after he triggered the spell—

Demiurge connected. The response time was insanely quick.

"Demiurge?"

"This is he, Lord Ainz."

"Mm." He had rehearsed this over and over. Essentially, all he had to do

now was recite his prepared lines. "I figured you might be wondering about

the disparity between the reports and my actions. I know what you want to

say, but if I'm going to explain all the details, I think Albedo should be

present as well. Go back to the Great Tomb of Nazarick at once. I will also

return immediately. Let's meet at the log cabin on the surface."

"Understood. I will go ahead and contact Albedo."

"Okay, thanks."

Ainz cut off the Message without further ado. Then he emitted a long,

heavy sigh.

Ahhh, phew. He didn't seem angry. Ack, that was terrifying.

Ainz had been fairly afraid that he would anger his outstanding

subordinate, so his body practically crumpled with relief before he tensed up

and stared at the wall.

The wraith's work was done. Since friendly fire was possible, he could

destroy his undead like Shalltear did, but there was no need to waste the

energy; it was simple to return them to where they came from. Incidentally,

he didn't even have to voice the command; just thinking it was plenty. That

was enough to know which tenuous connection to break.

That said, he had countless connections stretching out in the direction of

E-Rantel. For those, he wasn't as confident that he could do what he wanted

if he didn't give orders vocally, but in the immediate area, he had created

only a few undead, so he could tell them apart with no trouble.

Be gone. Now then, back to Nazarick for a day…

Now Ainz had an extremely unpleasant job to do, which could be filed

under fabricating excuses or cajoling. If he could have delegated it, he would

have, but that wasn't possible. Who would even do it?

Running his hands over the items on the table that had belonged to that

trio of subhumans, he tried to forget about his anxieties.

Hrm. They're weak and not worth much, but I'm still happy to have

acquired some enchanted items from this world… While I'm not as bad as

Pandora's Actor, I admit I might have a bit of a thing for collecting them…

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First, he appraised the items that had belonged to the four-armed

subhuman. He discovered how she had blocked his instadeath attack—an

Armband of Death Guard. It offered perfect resistance against an instadeath

spell once a day.

Holding it up, he turned it around in his hands a few times before placing

it back on the table.

Boring. I wish they had better stuff… Anyhow.

Just as he was about to leave, there came a knock at the door and a voice:

"Your Majesty King of Darkness, it's Neia Baraja."

Ainz did a quick appearance check. Then he glanced around the room to

make sure everything was fit for an absolute ruler. After that, he slowly sat

down and assumed posture number twenty-four.

"Enter." He said it in as dignified a voice as possible. That voice, too, was

the fruit of rehearsal after rehearsal.

The door opened, and Neia, fully healed, entered. Then she bowed.

"Thank you very much for allowing me in, Your Majesty. I'm here to

perform my role as your attendant."

"Hmm, good of you to come, Miss Baraja. But there's no reason for you

to bend over backward to attend me today. It seems like your wounds have

been healed, but you must be tired from the battle…"

Oh, wait, I'm stupid…, thought Ainz. The potion he had used on her

would have removed all her fatigue. It was the one Nfirea, with his dry, flaky

skin, had raved about.

"No, thanks to Your Majesty, I'll have no problems performing my

attendant duties. And besides that, it makes me very happy to be near you."

Neia grinned, or was it more of a smirk? It was hard to not detect some

hostility or malice in her hair-raising smile. Ainz nearly braced himself, but

he managed to rein it in and avoid disrupting his kingly bearing.

"…I see. But today I need to return to the Nation of Darkness and get

some work done. I feel bad that you came over here for nothing, but…"

"Oh…"

She moped, but there wasn't a single thing cute about it. He simply felt

like she was glaring at him. Ainz decided to employ a countermeasure.

He closed his eyes. That way he didn't have to look at hers.

"At any rate, I'm glad you're safe—or rather, that you were able to make

it back alive, Miss Baraja."

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"Thank you, Your Majesty! That's also thanks to you. Without this armor,

I don't think I would have lasted until you arrived."

You didn't last… You were definitely dead… Well, all's well that ends

well. But it appears I was right about lending her armor that protected her

against projectiles for a fight on a wall!

"Ho-ho. Good. How did the bow work for you? Were you able to impress

a lot of people?"

"Yes… Many people saw the awesome power of this bow…but then they

all died."

"What?! …Ah, I see. So that's what happened. A sad state of affairs."

Another failure. Ainz was disappointed in himself. Everyone who had

seen the weapon in action was dead, so it was the same as if no one had seen

it. Maybe I should just give up on trying to promote rune weapons. But then

after a moment, he thought No, there's still a chance. More importantly, he

wouldn't lose anything even if the plan failed, and he stood to gain a lot if it

succeeded.

"Without the gear Your Majesty was kind enough to lend me, I would

have been invited to heaven with the others… I'm truly grateful, Your

Majesty."

Yes! thought Ainz; her thank-you seemed to have come from the bottom

of her heart. Of course, he couldn't openly celebrate. It was important to

show her only an attitude befitting a king.

"Don't concern yourself. You should know that it's a master's duty to

protect his followers."

Ainz opened his eyes for a peek and saw Neia's face warp a bit at the

word follower. She didn't look angry, but on the other hand, she did seem

offended. All he could do was trust that wasn't how she felt, based on the

context of their conversation and past interactions.

In any case, he felt that opening his eyes had been a mistake, so he closed

them again.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. Also, the people you saved all feel the same

way. They wanted me to tell you how grateful they are."

"Ohhh?" He had to suppress the desire to shout, Sweet! "I didn't do

anything so special. I was simply at the right place at the right time to aid

them. I don't want them to assume that luck will hold. I used a tremendous

amount of mana in that fight. Next time, I really won't be able to save them."

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"Understood. I'll let everyone know."

"Very good. But, hmm…yes. Do tell them that if I meet them, I would be

happy to hear their thanks in person… Anyhow, sorry, Neia, but I need to get

going. I'll see you later, uh… Could you come again in about four hours?"

"Yes! I will be waiting! Then if you'll excuse me, Your Majesty."

Neia left the room, and Ainz opened his eyes.

Yes, she definitely seems to be immensely thankful. With this, I finally

have one person. But every long journey starts with a single step. Should I

give her some healing potions free of charge as a sort of promo campaign?

That would make her even more grateful… The rune weapon didn't do much,

but what if I gave her this…?

Ainz took out a purple potion.

It was one of the ones Nfirea had made. His potions were still under

development and paled ever so slightly in comparison to those made in

Yggdrasil. Still, maybe they would be just as effective soon; it might not be

long before he could even make the red ones from the game.

I didn't use any Yggdrasil stock because I felt like revealing the existence

of red potions here would be a waste, but…I'm still a bit unsure that people

used to blue potions will accept purple ones. It wasn't a bad idea to use one

here and establish a track record.

The potions Ainz was having Nfirea and his grandmother make were

hidden away in Nazarick, and he had no intention of letting the technology

get out. But it was possible the time to start selling them would eventually

come. He figured a little setting up in advance couldn't hurt.

I'm not too sure what's the best move. Either way has its pros and cons.

And Nfirea…

Frankly, getting asked advice on the things married people do at night was

bothering him. Not that he got all the lurid details, but Ainz thought it might

be awkward if it came out that Nfirea was discussing those sorts of things

about his wife with him.

And besides, how had Nfirea come up with the idea to ask him in the first

place? Ainz could only assume it was due to the fact that the young man had

no father figure and had left behind the town he was from; he simply had no

one else to turn to. Maybe he thought Ainz had that sort of relationship with

Narberal.

Even though he knows I'm a skeleton…

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Ainz eventually got so curious, he considered spying on them one night,

but he had the feeling he wouldn't be able to treat them the same way

afterward, so he refrained. Still, every time Nfirea inquired about something,

he had to shrug off the renewed interest that flitted across the back of his

mind.

When she realized it felt good, she wanted to do it more and more, or

whatever, so… I can't believe he asked me for that kind of potion… What

would you even call it? A performance recovery potion? Anyhow, I have a

ton, so I could give him some, but, like…

Ainz decided for the time being he would give them to the lizardmen and

have them do their best to produce more rare children.

What is it people say? Tech is first applied in the military, then to sex, and

then the medical field? Is that true? …​Anyhow, I guess I should head back.