67

"The heavens declare God's Glory..."

There were two Jeanne d'Arc.

"The firmament shows His handiwork..."

In war it is not so easy to differentiate between the innocent and the guilty. Soldiers go to war for the ideals of their commanders, the leaders lead a meaningless massacre of soldiers for the ridiculous ideas of their own paradise - a paradise for all those whom they had already sacrificed in their war. A hero for some is a monster for others.

"Speeches poured forth during the day and knowledge during the night..."

The great Achilles was the symbol of power for the Achaeans and an omen of horror for the Trojans. Hector was the shield in the service of Troy - and the wall where innumerable Greeks died trying to pass. Both heroes were great figures - their friends and followers looked at them with admiration while their enemies tremble in their shadow.

"A fire has ignited within my heart and continuously burns to remind me..."

In a war, the hero plays two roles - the savior and the destroyer, the protector and the aggressor.

"This is where I meet my end..."

One who has been recognized as a saint cannot be evil, just as the sun itself casts no shadows. The very idea of holiness is built on this. The saint has no other side.

"My destiny now runs its course..."

However, all people certainly have a dark side. While a Saint is a source of light — no matter how bright a light is — its shadow will always follow behind.

"My life's dream has reached its conclusion..."

The Saint, Jeanne d'Arc, the maiden of Orleans, has only one side. A different side for her was unthinkable - this was the very essence of the Saint.

"Utilizing the last thing I have left at my disposal..."

But under the feet of Jeanne d'Arc, the commander of the armies of France, who fought on the front lines, hundreds of corpses reamined. Dead, twisted, corpses cursing her name. Jeanne d'Arc, a French peasant woman, still had emotions. She still suffers, have fears, and could feel hatred.

The Saint had nothing but holiness.

The Saint could not cast any shadow, but Jeanne Alter existed.

The girl had a shadow, the girl which would later become known as Jeanne d'Arc.

"I fight to protect the path He must walk..."

Probably because of this facts, Jeanne therefore considered the Witch to be her younger sister. Because she was not a reflection of her own self. Because she was a reflection of the girl who would one day become Jeanne d'Arc. A mirror to her younger self.

In a way, she was her younger sister. The one that still has fears. The one that felt hatred. The one who still possesses nervousness and acted both brashly and stupidly. The one that has not yet become a Saint, a figure that rejected everything that makes her human.

"Lord, accept my sacrifice..."

Jeanne Alter was closer to her human self than Jeanne herself. The Dragon Witch could act as a person.

Jeanne d'Arc, the Holy One, was a Saint who acted as the Holy One should.

"O' Lord, I entrust this body to you..."

For only a human is free. The Saint has only their purpose.

Rather, a Saint is the Lord's tool, a pawn in his big game, which must fulfill its mission. Even if it means that they will perish. It is no coincidence that most Saints are martyrs.

For this, the Saints are needed.

The blade that Jeanne unsheathed was of excellent design and craftsmanship. The gray-white blade with a twisted guard, that extends to the sides like a cross, and then converges again in the hilt, ending in a pommel in the shape of a frozen flower.

Although the weapon lacked overt ornamentation - it still remained elegant and more than suitable for battle.

For a battle to which it was not intended for.

Jeanne grabbed the sword, shifting her hand to the blade, holding it in her hand.

Of course, using the sword as a weapon in this position was very unlikely. However, using the sword as a weapon was not required at all - the last Noble Phantasm of Jeanne did not require her sword to be used as a weapon.

A moment after Jeanne's blade was unsheathed, Jeanne's sword completely changed its appearance.

After a moment, a fire spread along the entire length of the blade, devouring the hilt, turning the sword into a fiery cross. Slowly her Noble Phantasm is set in motion. A light detail, a dormant bud of flower at the pommel of the sword pushed the iron leaves away - and bloomed.

The fire, as if frozen for a second in the hands of Jeanne, exploded an instant later, rushing in an endless stream of flame, bright as the midday sun, white, like the rays of dawn, devouring Jeanne completely.

For the Dragon Witch, her burning at the stake was the moment when the Lord betrayed her and brought the very fires of Hell to her execution.

For Jeanne, the fire became what cleansed her soul and body completely before appearing before the Lord.

For the Witch, this became torture, a sign of the meaninglessness of her battles. For Jeanne, this was her well deserved rest, marking the end of her mission.

For in this fire is the end of your path.

La Pucelle is the embodiment of this thought. The flame that was the end of her mission.

The very essence of the Noble Phantasm was covered in another aspect of the flame. Not the moment when she died at the stake, but the moment when the Lord marked the fulfillment of her duty. And bringing this flame with herself, Jeanne was able to mark "the end of her mission on this earth."

In other words, it was a Noble Phantasm capable of destroying any goal that could be destroyed. Living and nonliving, destructive and harmless - if this goal could be destroyed - this goal will be destroyed.

However, this was not the power of "annihilation" in the truest sense of the word. It could not be used to advance her own desire, or in a fit of emotion and in order to deal with the enemy. It was the absolute power of the Saint - an instrument of God that gave Jeanne the power to fulfill His will. Only a force that was "supposed" to be destroyed could allow Jeanne to use this Noble Phantasm.

However, the burning flame did not only signify the "mission of the Saint", but also its "end". In other words, using this Noble Phantasm implied that Jeanne had "fulfilled her mission".

In an instant, a flash of flame inflamed every branch of Romulus' Noble Phantasm and while also consuming Jeanne.

A second later, the flame fell, not even leaving the ashes from the Noble Phantasm of Romulus.

And from Jeanne.

Ainz froze in place.

His connection with Jeanne was broken.

Medusa, the Dragon Witch, and now, Jeanne...

"Oh..." Ainz exhaled deeply, after which he glared at Baal, then at Euryale, "Oh... if you only knew how much anger you made me feel..."

Baal, having heard this remark, twitched. Unlike Euryale, he could actually roughly imagine how much he had enraged the Skeleton in front of him.

"Cainabel" - Ainz instantly reached for the girl's mind.

"My Lord," she answered joyfully, "Do you want something from your faithful servant?"

"End your battle this instant and teleport to Mashu," Ainz answered briefly.

"But my Lord, I..." - Cainabel tried to object. Under normal circumstances, Ainz would ponder her reluctance, however...

"Now" - Ainz's commanding voice instantly brought Cainabel out of her fugue.

"It will be done" - after a moment the connection between the two was cut off.

Ainz looked at Baal - and then at Euryale.

"Hmm..." Ainz sighed thoughtfully.

How funny, his skill had suppressed the emotion of hatred in his soul, but now Ainz knew.

He knew that he was experiencing a great amount of hatred, an emotion which he had never experienced before after being transformed into a skeleton.

He did not actually feel the emotion himself, but knew what emotion he should have felt - and therefore he could choose, with a clear mind, whether or not to act in accordance with the emotion he was experiencing - or not.

This thought briefly occupied Ainz's mind.

"Good." Ainz smiled. Unlike his human shell, which was able to express his emotions with facial expressions and unconscious gestures - his skeletonized body, naked skull and bones were not able to emote his happiness, because of which Baal was not able to determine the expression on Ainz's face. Perhaps this was for the best, - "Conducting a second experiment of similar nature like with Stheno would be stupid and unproductive. Therefore…"

"Dimensional Lock." Ainz instantly used a spell that cuts off all forms of teleportation around him for kilometers. When Baal sensed this, his body began to stir, after which the column of flesh slowly began to flow. Changing the shape of the mass of flesh, as if like flowing water, the meat was slowly transformed. After a few seconds, a human figure emerged from the mass of flesh. Although, it was impossible to call the emerging figure a human.

The creature that sprang from the flesh was the same height as Ainz, the same proportions even - and even its silhouette was somewhat similar to Ainz. However, despite the fact that it retained a human-like shape - the creature did not have a mouth, eyes or hair - only straight edges, that glinted as if it was made of polished surfaces, as if it were a gypsum figure. The creature's body consisted of bare muscles that continued to change and shimmer to the beat of Baal's heartbeat. After a moment part of its flesh, which until then retained its red-meat color, changed, turning into black mucus, slowly spread over Baal's shoulder, settling around it like a mantle.

"Hm, so that's what your combat form looks like," Ainz nodded. "I must admit, I thought that I would need to destroy you as a column of flesh."

"Big words," Baal did not have a mouth to show his grin, but he showed it perfectly in his voice.

However, it was a bluff.

Baal had absolutely no certainty that he could defeat Ainz in battle.

The free use of teleportation spoke of one's level of strength and skill. The use of such abilities in the form of artifacts given to the Servants showed a higher level of power. And the use of spells aimed at blocking teleportation is yet another level entirely.

In reality, there were very few magi who discovered the secret of teleportation. Even fewer who could use such power freely. And there were practically none of those who studied the spells used to counter teleportation. Such a spell was not only difficult - first of all, it had to be developed and studied. Few magi could afford the resources to study such complex spells, knowing the rarity of using teleportation and the existence of many other, much more practical abilities.

In other words, the fact that Ainz knew such a spell meant one of two things. Either he found it necessary to study such a spell for any battle with those who used teleportation - which was absurd, given how rare the users of such power were. Or he had enough resources and abilities to study this spell in addition to much more useful ones - which was even more absurd, given the level of resources required to study this ability and the large volume of more practical spells.

Even Baal himself, being a Demon King, was an exception to this rule - even among the other Demon Kings there are few who were capable of using this teleportation.

Baal felt a drop of cold sweat run across his face, a very human action for a being that is supposedly incapable of human reaction.

"I would not want to give you an honest fight," Ainz nodded. "However, I have already conducted an experiment with one method of destruction. Therefore…"

A gust of wind, completely unrelated to Ainz's speech rose above the plains. After a few moments Ainz stepped forward, causing the shapes of his mantle to flutter, exposing his empty chest.

"Attack at your full strength," Ainz sighed then smiled, "And I will show you what "despair" truly means."

Remus' memories... His life, his brother, the wolf that fed him...

Cainabel gleefully absorbed Remus' blood while feeling the Grail's darkness struggle to break free.

Oh, trying to overpower her in blood control? When Cainabel already activated her first Noble Phantasm?

Cainabel would have even smiled at this thought if she had not been preoccupied at the moment drinking Remus dry.

The singularity, Baal's plan, the battle with Cainabel - it was completely unimportant for the girl.

However, she still continued to enjoy the taste of the Servant's blood, feeling how it spills into her bottomless stomach. Remus' blood was... intoxicating. And it burned a little. Like wine with a light touch of pepper. A very exquisite drink.

Cainabel felt the moisture that she had been waiting for all this time pouring through her body.

Baal's master...

Cainabel stopped for a second.

Oh, that sounded much more interesting already.

Cainabel felt herself approaching the secret of Remus' existence closer and closer...

"Cainabel" - the girl's mind was touched by Ainz's.

"My Lord" - feeling the blessed good blood pouring through her teeth and inside her bottomless throat, Cainabel exhaled - "Do you need something from your faithful servant?"

"End your battle this instant and teleport to Mashu" - the cold voice of the Master answered her.

"But my Lord, I..." - Cainabel, sensing how she was getting closer to solving the riddle of Remus' existence, tried to object, still feeling the heady taste in her mouth.

"Now," Ainz's voice was as quiet and calm as ever, but Cainabel instantly flinched. Being next to Ainz in his peace-loving and calm state, she seems to have begun to forget who he really was.

"It will be done," the girl answered instantly, throwing off any obsession and intoxicating fun of blood.

After a second, the connection broke and Cainabel pulled her fangs out of Remus.

He was still alive, if barely, which means Cainabel could have pulled out details from him regarding the Master of Baal and the very secret of creating Remus, but Ainz's order was clear. Besides, he probably knew about everything already without any help from Cainabel.

Giving a moment of attention to the creature, Cainabel used the ability of her Noble Phantasm. Under normal circumstances, she would not fail to accompany it with a snap of her fingers or other meaningless gesture, but her order was clear. Instantly means instantly.

Each drop of blood in Remus' body exploded at the order of Cainabel, destroying his body to the very ground, blowing up the living Servant with a firework of blood and meat, after which Cainabel disappeared in a flash of teleportation.

Baal, the Demon King. There were several suitable adjectives describing its essence: proud, boastful, self-confident and cruel.

And also - strong, cunning, insidious and careful.

Baal's mind analyzed any detail that he could discern while observing Ainz. With every passing moment, it was only getting worse for Baal.

Mantle. The piece of clothing resting on Ainz's shoulders, it was so black it is as if it was woven from an eternal darkness that was never touched by a single ray of light. A darkness that existed even before the first ray of light arose in the chaos of the world. This robe alone could become a powerful Noble Phantasm of some great magi from human history.

Rings. Each of the nine rings resting on Ainz's bony fingers inspired awe in Baal. The rings on Ainz's hands were similar to the rings of his Master. No... Baal did not know if he should have felt horror, trembled in disbelief, or subjected himself to a hundred tortures for a slipping seditious thought - "These rings can be even stronger..."

Behind the head of Ainz a darkness slowly spread, like darkness awakening from a dream, a black halo, circling indefinitely according to Ainz's desire.

The figure of the skeleton did not look weak - the snow-white bones shaped and placed according to human anatomy seemed to spread an aura of power and grandeur by themselves, which made Baal shrink back from looking at it.

"I had to turn off seven passive skills and auras in order not to kill you just by walking towards you," slowly, Ainz took another step forward. Baal, a Demon King, standing in front of the magician, barely suppressed the desire to take a step back.

"Negative energy," Ainz said, stepping forward, "That would be enough to get rid of you right now. That was enough to get rid of Stheno…"

"Attack!" - Baal did not wait for the continuation of the speech, giving the order to Euryale, after which his mind, frenzied, rushed to cast the spells that he knew.

Euryale rushed forward, feeling her divine powers instantly take shape. A dozen spells from Baal followed...

A moment later, a barely visible transparent wave, rising at the feet of Ainz, struck in all directions, absorbing the spells and turning them back into harmless particles of mana.

"Disappointing," Ainz continued to move forward slowly. "It wasn't even a Greater Anti-Magic Field. So, those were spells of the eighth rank and below... I probably didn't even need to defend myself at all... Hm, I was hoping for something more…"

Baal felt his breath, a thing completely unnecessary to him, getting caught in his throat. The magecrafts created by him were one step removed in approaching the Magecraft of the Age of Gods - not to mention Euryale, a real goddess...

"Use the skill!" - Baal used another spell, lifting himself into the air.

Euryale, hearing the order, froze in motion, after which her divine power, the power that was responsible for her divine aspect of youth and beauty, was turned against the enemy. Euryale, obeying her orders, extended her hand forward...

"Hmm, charm," Ainz just continued to move forward, not even paying attention to the actions of Euryale, continuing to move forward towards his goal, the girl, "Strong enough, certainly... But not particularly effective."

The next hail of Baal spells poured on the skeleton.

"Attack!" - another order toward Euryale immediately followed - "Why are you just standing there?! Attack!"

A moment later, in the hands of Euryale, a bow appeared - a weapon for her class, Archer. The bow's appearance is as if it was woven from gold and ivy stalks intertwined. After drawing its string a small arrow shot an instant later. The arrow, as if in a mockery of the very concept of a battle, was made out of a pinkish crystal, tipped with a small stylized heart, pointed with an edge toward the enemy. After a short flight the arrow reached its target.

Dozens of Baal's spells - fire, lightning, ice , wind, pure energy, searing light and inky darkness struck Ainz. Against the backdrop of such a riot of elements, the arrows shot by Euryale were completely lost, but nevertheless contributed their part to the assault.

An attack that resulted in nothing.

The spells harmlessly crashed into a barrier that appeared before Ainz, which repulsed all destructive magic under a certain threshold, turning spells that could destroy a small city block into harmless dust at the moment of contact with an unseen barrier. The arrows of Euryale, breaking through the imperceptible barrier, crashed into Ainz's body, breaking instantly into dust and drifting to the ground.

This made Ainz stop in his tracks.

Baal felt joy for a second, comforting himself with the hope that these attacks, even if they didn't hurt, had caused Ainz some damage.

In a certain, very narrow and meaningless sense, it was so.

"The dust of crystals dirtied my mantle," Ainz glanced at the dust from the arrows of Euryale settling on his mantle, after which, with the sigh of a tired worker, he slowly extended his hand and brushed off his sleeves.

The heart of Baal, a body part nonexistent in his anatomy, like all other organs of the human body - missed a beat.

"No!" - Baal was way stronger than all Servants, well… almost everyone. But "stronger" did not mean that he does not need to be careful around them at all. Servants still remained Servants, even the weakest of Servants was still an adversary that could not be underestimated. Baal could defeat even Romulus in open battle, in his fortified fortress, even Altera. However, in none of these cases would victory have been easy for him. Even Euryale — though her physical parameters were low — was not an adversary from whom he could simply dismiss. Kill, defeat, subjugate - yes. But not ignore.

Therefore, looking at the fact that Ainz ceased his advance not because of an attack, not for preparing his ability, not even in order to taunt him, but simply in order to shake off the dust off his mantle. A mantle which got dust on from Baal's desperate onslaught, the nonchalance forced Baal to take a step back.

After a moment, Baal started running away. Baal could sense that the teleportation barrier "only" extended for several kilometers, a large distance to cross, but it was not infinite. If he could retreat beyond its limits, Baal will receive - albeit a ghostly - but still a chance to escape. For teleportation, even someone at his level would need time, rituals, circles, and even so, without preparing the place for teleportation, the probability of error was enormous, but this was Baal's only chance.

After a second, dozens of bones were instantly shot out from under the ground near Baal. The bones pierced his flesh, and then closed like jaws clamping their prey.

"Hold of Ribs," Ainz placidly stared at Baal, "Oh, if you were thinking of running away... I'm afraid I can't allow that."

Baal tried to wrench his body from the bones, but for some reason even his panicked intention to move failed. The ribs that emerged from the ground kept his body paralyzed - although he is held tightly by the bones piercing him, he should have been able to move somewhat. But now it was as if something had held him, fettered him, preventing any movement making Baal freeze in place.

"This spell was specially adapted to hold its target," Ainz sighed, after which several more arrows struck him, instantly breaking off as soon as the crystalline tip collided with his body. Euryale realized that she was doing an action doomed to failure, but she continued to shoot anyway, not even hoping for any different result.

"It's useless," Ainz turned toward Euryale, then sighed and looked at Baal. After a moment, the bones that pierced the human shaped mass of flesh disappeared, releasing Baal from its grip. For someone like Baal, the thought itself was absurd - why let the enemy go, the one over which you already held complete superiority over - however, this was the worst thing in his opinion.

Ainz seemed to be telling him that even by releasing Baal, he had not lost even a drop of advantage. As if Baal was too insignificant, incapable of actually posing as a threat to Ainz.

"Is that all?" Ainz sighed, looking at Baal, and then looked at Euryale, "I expected much more from the one who could kill so many of my Servants and created such a trap..."

Baal understood that he had lost from the very beginning. At the moment when Lev, the Demon King Flauros was killed, his Master instructed him, Baal, to deal with the cause of the incident. Baal then, through fraud and deceit, was able to supply the mage maddened with grief with the power of the Grail, after which he arranged his lair in the next Singularity, planning to watch how an unknown new enemy defeats such an enemy. Baal used his scrying spell then - and the consequences were terrifying. The enemy's return spell, Ainz's, nearly destroyed Baal, which was unprepared for it. However, it also prompted him to the idea of creating a trap.

Baal killed the Nero living in the Singularity, after which he summoned her and several of his own Servants and set about creating his brilliant trap. By manipulating the other Servants, he could force Ainz to dance to his tune, watching him reveal more and more of his strength fighting them, and then inform his Master about the new enemy, using the Singularity to tear to pieces the unsuspecting enemy. His trap with the Barrier was to keep Ainz's attention and then the corrupt Grail, the creation of his Master, should be able to read Cainabel's mind as soon as she touched it, extracting information that she possessed about Ainz and transmitting it to Baal...

But everything went wrong!

Ainz easily avoided the traps intended for him, after which, by manipulating the truth and falsehood, made Zhuge Liang doubt the leadership of Romulus - thereby destroying the main pawn of Baal himself and his helper. Using the information he had gained, he forced another Servant, the thoughtless Berserker - Caligula - to pick up the Grail, practically devaluing its role...

"No..." - Baal felt a sense of cold running down his back - "Caligula searched for the Grail precisely because I ordered to kill Nero..."

Baal made this mistake himself, but... He could not do otherwise under those conditions. If he hadn't sown dissent, Ainz could, instead of falling into the trap set for him unite all the three camps - after which he could detect the strings held by Baal and direct all the Servants against himself. Baal had to act, but even when he succeeded in avoiding disaster then, it still led him to this situation and lost even more...

"He..." Gazing at Ainz Baal felt a sense of nausea rising - "He knew..."

Ainz knew.

Ainz, as if feeling - no, knowing the thoughts of Baal, looked up at him.

Ainz knew.

Ainz knew from the start. About the Baal's plans. About his actions. About his decisions.

Ainz rearranged the traps placed around him so that Baal himself would fall into it. He made Baal destroy his plan with his own hands. His pawns were suddenly in the wrong hands. In the snares, placed for a stupid hare, was his own dog. When he sent his Servants to kill the servants of Ainz, the end of the prey according to Baal's plan, turned instead into the death of the hunters. And even when he was on the island, Ainz knew... Ainz knew about the actions of Baal - and allowed them to happen. It was the actions of the Dragon Witch who destroyed Rome that made Caesar focus his attacks on the Witch. His hatred gave her strength and his victory forced Alter to use the terrifying Noble Phantasm. This Noble Phantasm made Baal flee to the only place where he had prepared a place for teleportation with.

Into the trap.

The trap that Baal himself prepared for Ainz... But he fell into it himself.

"Despair..."

Ainz's words echoed in Baal's head with an empty ring.

That is what he really meant.

A despair that is not only from knowing how strong Ainz actually was. But a despair born of the desperation to escape death, from the realization that Baal himself was trapped by his own hands. A trap that he designed for Ainz, but ensnaring him instead.

"You knew," Baal felt his voice tremble with fear, "You knew... From the very beginning... From the very beginning, you knew...

Each movement of Baal was calculated thoroughly, his every plans were turned against him, his actions and intentions were perverted and directed so as to harm only Baal himself.

While Baal considered himself a player moving pieces on a chessboard, his fingers were tied to the movements of one alien pawn.

"You knew about my plan," Baal felt the nausea intensify with every word, but could not stop talking, "You knew about my actions... About all the Servants... You foresaw my steps and knew what I would do to guide me…"

And in the end, the trap set on Ainz, the Barrier, turned into a trap that Baal himself fell into. A trap sprung from his intent of escaping from the consequences of his own deeds.

Despair…

Baal felt despair.

The trap set on Ainz eventually became a trap for Baal himself. This is what the whole Singularity eventually became for, making Baal feel horrified.

However, Ainz's figure slowly opened its mouth and...

"I don't understand what you mean," Ainz's voice sounded so incomprehensibly, naturally, human, that Baal felt the last support of his mind breaking.

"Noble Phantasm!" - Baal shouted to Euryale over the link, instantly using every last bit of his mana to power it.

Ainz only interestedly looked from Baal to Euryale...

And he brushed off his mantle once more.

Mashu continued to look disbelievingly at the place where Jeanne had recently burned.

"Jeanne..." she held out her hand, as if hoping that what had just happened was a dream, the strange nightmare in which she found herself in.

However, Jeanne was not in front of her.

"Where…" - Mashu blinked, after which an unexpected blow knocked her from her flight.

"Waver!" Alexander's scream made the girl turn around, looking at the person who had knocked her down. It was Rider, to be exact.

Alexander was on his horse, Bucephalus, the horse of Alexander the Great.

The creature, only mistakenly called a horse, was larger than any normal mount. His crow-like black silhouette stood out especially sharply in the blue of the sky, and Alexander's face, disfigured by anger, attracted attention.

Mashu barely had time to set up her shield before another blow of the hooves knocked her around again, dispelling the spell of flight, making her fall to the ground.

Bucephalus immediately rushed forward, after which several lightning strikes from the clear sky strike Mashu again, curtailing any possibility of resistance.

A second later, Mashu saw how, despite the fact that the horse was standing straight in the air, Bucephalus reared up, as if preparing to trample Mashu. She only managed to put her shield forward barely, hoping that this would delay her grizzly fate.

"Having fun?" Cainabel's voice was filled with sarcasm and amusement. After a second, there was only a loud neighing of a horse.

Mashu opened her eyes to see the monstrous hooves of a horse skidded helplessly over an umbrella carelessly placed to intercept the blow, after which Bucephalus took a step backward.

"You!" Alexander instantly noticed the appearance of a new person.

"I!" Cainabel grinned, after which, before Alexander could do anything, she extended her hand forward. A second later, the body of Alexander and Bucephalus exploded into bloody mist, instantly covering Cainabel and Mashu with blood from head to toe.

From such a quick change of situation in front of her, Mashu only foolishly turned her gaze to Cainabel.

"Ah, young blood!" Cainabel grinned, after which the precipitation of blood began to merge, obeying her order,into a single stream, rushing into the bottomless mouth of Cainabel, "Hmm, you are the only one who survived... Well, that means that this is all I have to do and I don't have to be bothered doing anything else."

Mashu blinked again, after which she realized, "Senpai! We must help senpai!"

"I doubt it," Cainabel exhaled, after which she glanced toward the direction where she could feel Ainz's presence, "To be honest .. I would rather run to the other side of the world than going anywhere near Ainz."

"Ah?" Mashu blinked.

"Hm," Cainabel only sighed, after which Mashu with an appraising look, "My Lord really cares about his Servants. And now... He's a little out of sorts…"

A second later, Mashu - and Cainabel - was blasted from their place by a wave of power.

Eye of Euryale.

A terrifying force that was capable of overthrowing any enemy. From the time when the beautiful Helen led to the fall of Troy, female beauty ruled the world. Love became the sword and shield of the great heroes and rulers. The ever-beautiful, ever-young goddess, Euryale, knew this.

Gold leaks through the fingers, chains of fidelity are corroded by the rust of envy, power and strength age as fast as the person holding them ages. But love is eternal. It subjugates minds and hearts, excites souls, makes sobbing great warriors and cowards perform heroic deeds.

The ever-beautiful Euryale was born perfect. As the perfect goddess of youth, she was blessed with a beauty that could drive anyone crazy - man and woman, king and pauper, man and god. Euryale did not need a weapon - her arrow was her gaze, her blade was her smile, her poison was her sweet voice. Her very appearance, her very essence was permeated with the dangers of love. And her Noble Phantasm was a force that concentrated all this power into a single attack.

Eye of Euryale - for if her gaze was directed at the target, they were already at her feet.

However, unlike his sister, Stheno, who embodied an unattainable love that drove anyone's crazy, Euryale embodied the other side of love. Crazy and dangerous, for love turns friends into enemies, the rich into beggars, cities into ruins. And therefore, when the heart and mind of the target were captured by Euryale - one cruel gesture that rejected the crazed love was able to snuff out the life of a lover. Each cell of the body, each particle of the mind, unable to imagine such love anymore after they were rejected, would be damned - and destroyed.

It was a Noble Phantasm, embodying not true love, but the grief of the rejected.

And therefore, the stronger the charm of Euryale would have acted on the target, the more terrifying the consequences would be.

However…

Euryale's arrow, which hit the target, crumbled in an instant, encountering an invisible barrier.

"Hmm…" - Ainz held out thoughtfully, - "So... Charm…"

After that, Ainz slowly turned to Euryale.

"Charm... Against the undead," Ainz let out a chuckle, "How… Charming"

Euryale, feeling the power of her Noble Phantasm crumble, not even reaching its target, retreated back - then again - and again.

"Your Noble Phantasm parameter is too low to break through my barrier," Ainz glanced at Euryale. "Also, the strength of the Noble Phantasm itself is also below the required rank. In addition, you tried to use charm on the undead, which is immune to such effects. I also have the skill necessary to further suppress my emotions. And besides that, you used charm on someone who has incredible hatred towards you."

Ainz slowly inhaled, "Your Noble Phantasm did not work exactly five times, for five different reasons."

After that, Ainz looked at Baal.

Baal, on the other hand, felt his mana moving according to his directions while focusing his gaze at Ainz to see what he was planning to do, however... He did not move. He didn't move at all, simply staring at Baal, as if curious of what he was planning to do.

If Ainz planned on doing nothing, so be it.

Baal felt each particle of his mind aspiring to the fulfillment of his will, how each particle of his mana was concentrated into a single curse.

Let Ainz look down at him. Let him be able to pervert the plan of Baal himself. Let him trap Baal. But…

Ainz will not be able to defeat him so easily. Even he was vulnerable. Even he could be defeated.

Baal's mind clung to this thought like a drowning man grabs at any straw extended to him.

He was the Demon King. He was a servant of his Master. He was Baal!

Therefore, at the moment when the Baal spell was cast, the Demon King rejoiced and looked at Ainz. For now is his hour of reckoning.

"Absolute Darkness!" Baal did not have a Noble Phantasm like the Servants, but the magic he created could be classified in such a way. Magecraft that surpassed even those that existed during the Age of Gods, approaching True Magic, answered the call of Baal, after which a thousand created spells exploded in an instant, releasing a cloud of darkness.

It was as if the whole world had been devoured and all reality was captured by a nightmare - the darkness struck Ainz from all sides, drawing all the light from the world itself, destroying its orderly vista. Such magic was supposed to destroy anyone.

"Ha..." Ainz's voice sounded tired.

"Impossible..." - Baal felt his will leaving him.

Slowly, the stream of darkness thinned, disappearing, only to allow the body of Ainz - snow-white and completely unwounded, to appear again.

"Using the magic of darkness against the undead," Ainz took a step forward. Streams of darkness, thinning, rushed after him, continuing to try to hurt him, but only powerlessly making his mantle flutter - "In general, a very bad idea."

Baal felt all the strength to resist, left him and slowly sank to the ground, his cloak of darkness fall, flowing to the ground and turning back into crimson mucus.

"The strength of your attack was satisfactory," Ainz continued to walk slowly, "However, almost all types of undead have a high level of protection against such magic. Some even are…"

Ainz tugged at the edge of his cloak, dispelling the remaining floods of darkness, and then sighed - "Outright immune to it completely."

After that, Ainz sighed and looked around at Baal and Euryale, then shook his head, "In that case, if your attacks are over... I should probably start attacking."

At that moment, Baal's mind fell into the abyss of despair.

Golden Rule

The ability to always get what you want.

There are various options for this skill depending on what you wanted. If it was beauty - then it is the ability to always have the most coveted and perfect appearance. If you want good health - then it is the ability to possess an ideal body. However, the most basic version of this skill is in acquiring gold and wealth.

In other words, it was the ability to receive treasures. Or, if you will, rewards.