Chapter 44: Vol6 C10 The Greatest Trump Card (1/2)

Chapter 10: The Greatest Trump Card

Part 1

Lower Fire Month (9th Month), 4th Day, 22:31

High above the Royal Capital, a group of people flew like shooting stars through the night sky. Two of them were magic casters sustaining a [Fly] spell, and the two others were their passengers.

One of the latter two was a man in a suit of jet-black full plate armor who carried two massive swords on his back, while the other was a ponytailed beauty. It went without saying that they were Ainz and Narberal.

That morning, the two of them had accepted a quest from the E-Rantel Adventurer’s Guild for an unprecedented amount of money. The client was Marquis Raeven. On the surface, it appeared that the Marquis wished to hire adventurers to enhance his estate’s security in the wake of the recent disturbances, whose causes were unknown.

Ainz knew that that was not the whole of the matter, and that he would find out more during the progress of the quest.

The reason was because they wanted to suppress the group known as the Eight Fingers, and they hoped Momon would fight alongside them, against the strongest members of the enemy, the Six Arms.

Ainz could not find any reason to reject this request.

Normally, adventurers had an unspoken policy of staying out of national matters. In order not to drive off Ainz — or rather, Momon the Black — they had gone to the trouble of preparing a proper request to serve as a cover, and aimed to attract him with a lavish reward.

After some thought, Ainz accepted the quest under a pretense of reluctance, in order not to make himself seem like a crass bargainer. The catch was that he had to make his way to the capital with all due haste.

In YGGDRASIL, there were waypoints that could be used to teleport from city to city, but in this new world, there were no such things. Teleportation magic was a 5th tier spell, which Momon and Nabe should not be able to use, and travelling overland by horseback would take an entire day.

What was to be done, then? The answer was simple, provided by the magic casters of Marquis Raeven.

They used accelerated flight spells in combination with the [Floating Board] spell, and together they took Ainz and Nabe with them to the capital at great speeds. How did they do this? The answer was very simple. Ainz and Nabe sat on the floating disk, which reduced their effective weight, so carrying the two of them would not slow them down appreciably. In this way, they had rushed straight to the capital all day long until now. However, time was still very tight even with the use of this trick, and they had already fallen behind schedule. Because of this, Ainz was slightly worried. If he arrived and was told he was no longer needed, what reward, if any, could he collect?

Though Ainz had been drawn by the unprecedented reward, it was doubtful that the requester would be willing to pay out to someone who had done nothing.

Ainz sighed quietly. He sounded like he was praying, like an employee with a poor performance review hoping against hope for some kind of bonus.

No matter what, he had to earn this bounty. He had already decided how he would spend it.

As these thoughts ran through his head, Ainz saw the capital for the first time from the sky at night. He regretted that he could not take his time to enjoy the view. The capital was dark, and it didn’t seem like a bustling city at all. Even so, it was a fascinating experience for Ainz, whose eyes could see clearly in the darkness.

Watching quietly from above, Ainz’s eyes spotted an interesting sight; a light in the distance.

Though nothing much happened at first, when he saw the rising black flames, he realised that this was an emergency situation.

“Wait! Look! There’s a glow of spellcasting, over there!”

“Indeed… it does look like… some kind of magic…”

The magic caster that had followed the pointing of Ainz’s finger did not seem to think much of it. A normal person would have had trouble making out the glow through the darkness and the distance, much less analyzing it.

“What’s wrong? Is this sort of thing commonplace in the capital? Or are these fireworks to welcome me?”

The magic caster did not laugh at the joke. Indeed, the expression on his face was very serious.

“That was one of the eight locations we were supposed to attack—”

“I see. I thought we’d arrived too late, but it looks like we’ll be doing some work after all.”

“Understood, we will head towards that location.”

“Stop. It looks like there’s a pretty high-level magic caster present. If you’re pulled into this, don’t you think you might lose your life?”

Then what are we supposed to do? Ainz looked away from the magic caster’s conflicted expression and turned to Narberal.

“Nabe, use [Fly] and take me in closer. On my mark, drop me right on top of them.”

“Certainly.”

♦ ♦ ♦

Lower Fire Month (9th Month), 4th Day, 22:33

To Evileye, who was on the brink of life and death, the black warrior’s question seemed utterly ridiculous. However, she immediately changed her mind. When one thought about it, both of them seemed very suspicious. After all, it was a confrontation between two masked figures and it wasn’t unthinkable that they might be seen as conspirators fighting among themselves.

Then, hoping that she’d correctly deduced the identity of the black warrior, Evileye cried out.

“Dark hero! I am Evileye of Blue Rose, and I appeal to you as a fellow adamantite-ranked adventurer! Please, aid me!”

The moment she made her plea, Evileye realized that she had made a mistake.

That was the difference in the fighting strength between herself and the enemy. Even with the help of Momon the Black, a fellow adamantite-ranked adventurer, what could they do? The demon facing Evileye was one she could not hope to defeat, even with his help. It would be like going from a scrap of paper to two — either way, they would both be scattered by the raging storm before them.

If he accepted Evileye’s request, she would be directly responsible for his death. What she should have done was to tell him to flee, and if possible, take the bodies of her comrades with him.

However—

“—I understand”.

The man stood before the demon, hiding Evileye behind his back.

Evileye held her breath.

In the moment that he stood before her, she mistook him for a massive, sturdy wall, the kind that would defend a city. A sense of security and relief filled her to the depths of her heart.

And the demon confronting them actually bowed his head, as though he were a commoner showing due deference to a nobleman. It could not possibly be respect; he must have been mocking him. Was this demon merely playing games?

“My, my, such an honor you pay us this night. Might I inquire as to your noble name? This one is known as Jaldabaoth.”

Jaldabaoth? She heard the surprised voice of the man underneath the jet-black helm, followed by a mumbled “What a weird name”.

She did not think it was weird. In fact, Evileye had no idea what to think of it. She knew quite a bit about the lore of demons and other infernal beings, but next to nothing about this name.

“Jaldabaoth, is it? I understand. My name is Momon, and like she said, I am an adamantite-ranked adventurer.”

Though bathed in Jaldabaoth’s disapproval, the warrior of darkness — Momon — carried on as though he had not noticed it at all.

So that’s what he’s doing, Evileye thought with approval. In order to draw his opponent out and learn from him, Momon exercised his iron discipline and kept his emotions from showing. It was clear why the man called Momon was recognized as a first-rate adventurer.

Evileye, who was ashamed of how easily her emotions had taken control of her, moved into the shadow of Momon’s crimson cape in order not to distract the two of them from their exchange of words.

Even though Momon seemed willing enough to assist, she had the feeling that she would be getting in the way.

Momon and Jaldabaoth did not bother acknowledging Evileye’s presence. In the moment that she moved, they began a duel of wits, each seeking the secrets of the other.

“Ah, I see. May I then inquire as to the reason you have graced us with your presence this evening?”

“It’s for a request. A certain noble hired us to defend his estate… but as I flew through the skies above the Royal Capital, I saw this battle. I assumed that it was an emergency, and naturally I jumped in.”

Said noble was Marquis Raeven, who had requested the presence of adamantite-ranked adventurers in the capital, heedless to the risk of running afoul of the unwritten adventurer’s policy of not getting involved in politics. One could tell he was desperately in need of the manpower to deal with the Eight Fingers.

“And what is your objective?”

“A mighty item capable of summoning us to this plane and commanding us has found its way to this city. We are here in order to retrieve it, of course.”

“And what if we gave it to you? Wouldn’t that solve the problem?”

“Unfortunately, that would be impossible. There can only ever be hostility between us.”

“What kind of conclusion is that? De- Jaldabaoth, must we be enemies?”

“That is precisely so.”

Evileye tilted her head at the surreal sight before her. They were simply exchanging information. How did that even make sense?

“Well, I understand, for the most part. In that case… you shall be defeated here, any problems with that?”

Momon spread both his arms, and the greatswords which were like an extension of his hands seemed to shine.

“That… would be inconvenient. Do permit me to put up a bit of resistance.”

“Then— here I come.”

He stepped forward — no, that was not right. The Momon standing in front of her had vanished. He was engaged in an intense melee with Jaldabaoth.

It had developed into a struggle that Evileye could not describe with words.

The after-images of countless swords, parried and countered by the extended claws of Jaldabaoth.

“Incredible…”

There were many ways to render praise, but at this moment, Evileye, who was entranced by the dazzling swordplay before her, could only offer up that single word. It exceeded the blows of all the swordsmen in her memory. She saw the form of a warrior who would cleave through the darkness that wrapped the world and all its evil in one stroke.

She felt like the princess in the songs of the bards. And the dark warrior before her seemed like a knight come to her rescue.

An electric current ran up her spine from between her legs, and Evileye’s petite frame quivered.

The heart of hers that had been still for over 150 years seemed to beat quickly once more.

Placing her hands on her breast, she found that of course there was no movement there. Even so, it felt real enough to her.

“…Please win, Momon-sama.”

Evileye clasped her hands together in fervent prayer, hoping that her knight would triumph over the fearsome devil before her.

Clang! Jaldabaoth was blown a good distance away, with a sound that did not seem like it could have come from a body of flesh and blood. Though he remained on his feet, he was still skidding over the cobblestoned floor at a rate that would swiftly wear out the soles of his shoes. After several dozen meters, he finally came to a halt, and dusted himself off.

“Truly spectacular. Crossing blows with a genius warrior like yourself might have been a mistake on my part.”

With a great wham, Momon stabbed his sword deep into the stone beneath him. Then, he used his free hand to sweep a chunk of stone away from his neck before calmly replying:

“Enough with the pleasantries. You’re hiding your true power too, aren’t you?”

It seemed almost unbelievable that neither party was going all-out despite the scope of this battle.

“Could he be a God-kin?”

The offspring of the beings known as “Players” were people who might awaken incredible power from within themselves. The Slaine Theocracy called these people demigods. Or, more precisely, they were the ones who carried the bloodline of the Six Gods within their veins. If they had the blood of others, they would be termed differently.

It seemed very likely that this Momon was of the bloodline of a “Player”. Or rather, it would be better to say that no human could have possessed such power.

“My my, it seems I couldn’t hide it from you after all. You are Momon-sa—n, are you not?”

“Indeed, Jaldabaoth, my name is Momon after all.”

“Very well, then. Here I come. [Aspect of the Devil: Tentacle Wings].”

Wings sprouted from Jaldabaoth’s back, but the feathers covering them were abnormally long, evoking the appearance of tentacles. He spoke evenly to Momon, who remained on his guard.

“You are strong. There is no doubt that your might exceeds my own. Though it is not exactly to my tastes, permit me the use of this method. While your own defense is formidable, can the same be said of the small fry behind you? How will you deal with that, then? Perhaps you should focus on defending her, no?”

With that, he cast forth a hail of feathers. Their tips were razor-sharp, capable of slicing cleanly through muscle and bone.

Evileye was defenseless in the face of this onslaught. She had no more mana to cast ‘Crystal Wall’. All she could do was wait and hope for a miracle.

But as it turned out, Evileye had been underestimating the dark warrior.

As the sound of metal rang out, Evileye looked up, and saw a stout shield standing before her.

The shattered remains of the feathers were scattered everywhere. Even though they were capable of shredding a human being to pieces, it was still a beautiful sight.

“It’s good that you’re all right.”

It was a calm male voice. His arm, swinging his sword at incredible speed. His breathing was measured and his tone was calm, even as he furiously deflected the feathers coming at them.

“Ah… ah… Ah! Your shoulder! Are you okay?”

Momon’s pauldron had a feather stuck in it. Said feather had fallen powerlessly out of the air after being cut down. It looked like a decoration on his armor.

“That’s nothing. Attacks of this level aren’t even worthy of consideration. Rather, I am glad that you’re all right.”

He chuckled.

Evileye felt her heart lurch with a badump. Her face was hot under her mask, which felt like it was going to scald her.

“Marvellous! For defending her without letting her sustain so much as a scratch, I, Jaldabaoth, offer you my heartiest congratulations. Truly, a marvellous display.”

“Like I said, enough with the pleasantries. Tell me, Jaldabaoth, why are you pulling away?”

With that, Momon scooped up Evileye in one arm and hugged her close to him.

“!”

Her unmoving heart felt like it was going to burst from her mouth. In her mind, the stupid stories of the stupid bards kept pounding through her brain, over and over again. Especially the ones where the knight carried the princess while doing battle. Any sensible person would realize that carrying a burden while fighting a strong enemy was nothing but foolishness.

But—

Bards throughout the world, I’m sorry! A true knight does indeed carry the frail maiden in his arms, fighting while protecting her. Uwah, what am I thinking! So embarrassing!

And then, Evileye’s joy fell flat in an instant. She imagine herself in a princess carry position. However, in reality—

“This is…”

—She was being carried like a piece of luggage under his left arm. No, that was actually the best way to do it. Compared to a mature adult woman, Evileye was small and light. In order to maintain his center of gravity, it made perfect sense for Momon to carry her like this.

She knew she had no grounds to complain, and her heart still burned with the anger of seeing her companions murdered. She knew full well this was not the time for such foolishness. Even so, there was no way to fully quell the unhappiness inside her heart.

Maybe if she had hugged him of her own accord, it might have made things easier for him. But she was not confident of being able to hang on to him if he chose to fight at those breakneck speeds again, so she kept quiet.

Evileye once again watched the battle unfolding between Momon and Jaldabaoth. The distance between the two of them had widened further than before, but for the top-class warrior and the super-class demon, it seemed little more than an extra step for both of them.

“Then, shall we begin?”

“No, I believe that will be all for now. Like I said earlier, my objective is not to defeat you. We have already engulfed part of the capital in flames. Once we have established the breach, rest assured that we shall certainly send you to the underworld atop a pyre of purgatorial flame.”

With that, Jaldabaoth turned and vanished. His movements did not seem hurried, but in moments the distance between them had lengthened, and he faded into the night.

“No. No, this isn’t good, Momon-sama, if we don’t pursue him—”

As Jaldabaoth vanished from sight, Evileye began to panic, but Momon shook his head.

“I can’t do that. He was retreating in order to carry out his plan. If I pursued him, he would fight with his full power. And if he did that…”

Momon did not have to finish the sentence for Evileye to understand.

If he gets serious, you’ll get caught in his attacks and die. Something to that effect. But even if they stayed put, that despicable fiend would surely use attacks that would hit Evileye anyway.

The fact that Momon was defending Evileye proved that Evileye had value as a hostage.

Momon had risked himself to save her life, and she could not do anything to help him. She hated that. To think she had said such high-sounding things to Climb.

“Now then, Nabe. What do you think we should do?”

In response, a woman descended slowly from the sky. The Dark Hero Momon’s team included the magic caster known as the Beautiful Princess. Back then, Evileye had laughed at the vanity of such a nickname, but now, with the real person in front of her, she found herself holding her breath.

She was too beautiful. A foreigner… with looks like that, she must have come from the south. Evileye kept watching her, unable to look away.

“Momon-sa—n. Why don’t we head to the residence of the nobleman who hired us, as originally planned?”

“Should we ignore Jaldabaoth? Isn’t stopping that fellow’s plans the whole reason why I’m here?”

“Perhaps, but we should still obtain the permission of the client. That seems most important.”

“—That is true.”

“In light of that, I suggest tossing that oversized mosquito aside.”

“Hm? Ah, forgive me, I was worried you might have been hit by that attack just now.”

Momon slowly lowered Evileye to the ground.

“No—please, don’t mind me. I understood your intentions.”

Evileye bowed deeply to Momon.

“Thank you very much for all your help. Allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Evileye, of the adamantite ranked adventuring party Blue Rose.”

“No need to be so formal, I am Momon, an adamantite-ranked adventurer like yourself. The magic caster here is my companion, Nabe. So what will you do after this? Are those two your companions? If you need someone to carry them for you, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

He pointed to Gagaran and Tia.

“I am deeply grateful for your offer, but there is no need. Our colleagues should be arriving soon. Perhaps they can cast the resurrection spell upon them here.”

“Resurrection spells… you can use them?”

“Ah… ah, yes. Our team leader Lakyus can bring the dead back to life.”

“I see! Then… if I may ask, from how far away can one cast a resurrection spell?”

“What do you mean?”

“That is to say, let’s say you wanted to resurrect these two. If you cast your spell from far away… in the Empire, for example, where would they resurrect? In the Empire, or where their bodies lay?”

Why was he so interested in resurrection magic?

Curiosity, perhaps? People who could use the 5th tier of divine magic were very rare, so it was not unusual to be interested in this topic.

Perhaps someone important to him had died. In that case, Evileye’s reply would be cruel to him. She could only pray that was not the case.

“I’m not too clear on the details, but I heard Lakyus needs to be very close by in order to cast the resurrection spell. So, with regard to your question, it would be impossible to cast the spell from the Empire, Momon-sama.”

“Mmm. Then, another question; after resurrection, would the two of them be able to fight immediately?”

“It would be impossible,” Evileye replied.

The spell Lakyus cast was the 5th-tier spell [Raise Dead]. The process of resurrection drained tremendous amounts of life force. Iron-ranked adventurers and below would be reduced to ash without fail if it was cast on them. Adamantite-ranked adventurers could be revived without a problem, but the resurrection would drain so much life energy from them that they would not be able to move, and recovering this life energy would take a long time.

If Jaldabaoth was right, not only were they still in danger, but they would also be deprived of a great amount of fighting strength.

…No, under these conditions, nobody can fight Jaldabaoth besides the great man in front of me. Resurrecting the two of them would do nothing to alter the circumstances. It would be wiser for them to focus on recovery after their revival.

“I see… I think I have the general idea now. If possible, I think I would like to meet this Lakyus lady. Would it be possible for me to wait here with you?”

“Wha! W-w-w-why do you want to see Lakyus?!”

Evileye’s words had already left her mouth before she could recover her composure. She did not understand the reason why she had spoken them either. In the instant she heard Momon saying that he wanted to see Lakyus, her heart was filled with resentment. It even shocked herself, and her outburst had alarmed Momon too.

Under her mask, her face began reddening with shame, and she was glad that the cloak covered up the tips of her ears which were also turning red.

“I… I was hoping to ask about revival magic, and also to meet with the leader of Blue Rose, who are fellow adventurers of the same rank as myself, and who are my seniors besides. That, and Jaldabaoth might be gone, but there’s no guarantee he will not return. Is that so displeasing?”

“N-no, it’s not like that… ah, I’m sorry I shouted at you.”

The resentment in her chest vanished the moment she heard Jaldabaoth’s name; she knew they had to be on guard against him.

Thinking carefully on what had already been said… I should have seen that coming. As for looking out for Jaldabaoth’s return… That implies he wants to protect me? Fufu…

“Then, while we wait, do you mind if I ask about what happened before?”

“Before that, I need to take care of my comrades’ bodies. I can’t just leave them here. There’s no problem with moving them, is there?”

Of course there was no problem. With that, Evileye went over to the bodies.

She’d thought they would have been burned beyond recognition, but it seemed that the devil’s flames had only burned the soul rather than the flesh. The corpses were immaculate. After closing their eyes and crossing their arms over their chests, Evileye withdrew a Shroud of Sleep from her pack, and began by wrapping up Tia.

“What is this?”

“This is a magic item that stops the decay and rigor mortis of a body when wrapped around it. It’s very useful for those who use resurrection spells.”

While this was so, Momon noticed during Evileye’s reply that she was struggling to wrap up Gagaran’s bulky frame, so he decided to lend a hand by lifting up her body with his incredible arm strength. When the bodies were wrapped up, Evileye solemnly clasped her palms together, praying for the souls of the dead and for Lakyus to revive them.

“Thank you for your help.”

“Think nothing of it. As I was asking earlier, could you tell me what exactly happened here?”

Evileye nodded, and began recounting the events that had come to pass. What she knew, what they’d planned to do, and the story of their encounter with the insect maid and the battle where Jaldabaoth had made his entrance.

As she spoke of how she had nearly finished off the insect maid, a change came over Momon and Nabe, who had been quietly listening to her story up until now.

“Then, did you kill her?”

His words were neutral, but the anger behind them was unmistakable.

Evileye was alarmed. Why would he be upset about killing Jaldabaoth’s maid? But she decided to finish telling the story.

“No, we didn’t kill her. Jaldabaoth appeared before we could do that.”

“…Is that so? I see, I see.”

The anger vanished, and Evileye wondered if he had even been angry in the first place. But, the silent Nabe’s hard eyes were still filled with simmering wrath. It was difficult to tell if she disdained everyone in this way.

Momon coughed, and asked, “Then… if you hadn’t tried to kill the insect maid, do you think Jaldabaoth would have attacked you?”

Evileye instantly realized why Momon had been angry. The insect maid had been neutral, and for all she knew, the two of them attacking her might have been the trigger for the present events. They had trod on the tail of a tiger which they should not have.

It was only natural for adventurers to avoid unnecessary battles. If a group of high-level adventurers didn’t know this, it would disgrace the name of adamantite-ranked adventurers, and even Momon himself. That should be the reason why he was upset. Even so, Evileye could not fully agree with that line of reasoning.

“Jaldabaoth said that he had consumed part of the Capital in hellfire. A maid following someone like that couldn’t possibly be a normal person. I believe my colleagues’ decision to fight her was the correct course of action.”

That was the one thing she could not compromise on. That maid had been stronger than Gagaran and Tia. Knowing this, they had still fought on— there had to be a reason for that. She had to believe that her comrades had had a good reason for what they did.

The defensive Evileye and the silent Momon looked at each other, as though peering through her mask and his closed helm. Although neither could see each other’s face, Evileye was certain that she was staring into Momon’s eyes.

In the end, Momon was the first to look away.

“Mmm. Ah. I see. You were right. I apologize.”

He lowered his head to her. That shocked Evileye. Even though her belief in her comrades was firm, she still couldn’t make her savior humble himself like that.

“Ah! Please, raise your head! Such a wonderful person like you should… Ueeeeee?”

As she realised what she had just said, Evileye let out a pathetic yelp.

While it was true that Momon was an outstanding individual, when you thought about it, using the word “wonderful” to describe him was…

Evileye squealed in her heart.

Aaaaah! I can’t help it, he’s too damn cool! Is it wrong for me to feel like a girl again, just once in hundreds of years? After all, he’s a mighty warrior who’s stronger than me…

Given the way Evileye was looking at Momon like a lovestruck schoolgirl, if he felt embarrassed and said so, that meant she still had a chance. If not, her chances would be miniscule.

Evileye’s body had stopped developing at the age of twelve. As such, she possessed none of the parts that men wanted to see. Whether it came to inducing the fires of lust in others, or satisfying said lust, it would have been very difficult for her. Of course, a certain subset of men would have been very attracted to her, but they were a minority. With a beauty like Nabe nearby, her chances seemed even slimmer.

As Evileye gathered her courage to look at him, she found that Momon and Nabe were looking at the night sky instead.

She didn’t quite know what they were doing at first, but when she remembered how she had wailed just now, it came to her. The two of them had taken her cry as a warning.

No, it’s not~

With nothing to say, the feeling drove her to the brink of tears.

“…Perhaps you were mistaken? There’s nothing there,” Momon said as he scanned the surrounding sky.

“…D-don’t worry about it. I’m truly sorry.”

“Ah, think nothing of it. It’s better to be mistaken than ambushed.”

Nabe returned her sword to her back, as Momon replied to Evileye with one sword in hand.

His gentleness left Evileye speechless. In that moment, the edge of her vision lit up. The color was not the pure white of magic, but a malevolent red, the color of a roaring blaze.

“Momon-san, look over there.”

As Nabe said this, the two of them turned to look at the crimson radiance. Evileye’s eyes widened, for she knew what had caused the fire.

“What? That’s…”

The crimson fire spat tongues of flame toward the sky, as though it aimed to burn down the heavens. It was easily more than thirty meters high, and she could hardly imagine how wide it was— several hundred meters, maybe more.

The wall of flame swayed like a veil, and encircled the city like a girdle.

Evileye, who had been shocked senseless by the sight, heard a soft male voice in her ear.

“…The flames of Gehenna?”

As though her neck was on springs, she snapped her head to the side to face Momon.

“That, that, what, what is that? Momon, do you know what that huge wall of flame is?”

Momon’s shoulders trembled slightly as he replied, with an uncharacteristic lack of confidence.

“Eh? Ah… no, no, I can’t be very sure about that. Can I tell you again after I confirm the details?”

“That… that’s all right…”

“I need to discuss something with Nabe, please excuse us.”

“Eh, can’t I come along too?”

“Ah, no, it’s a personal thing. Please, excuse us.”

It was so basic, so obvious that Evileye felt ashamed for even asking in the first place. Her wandering eyes settled on the woman known as the Beautiful Princess.

On her face was a triumphant smile.

She might have been mistaken, but then again, she might not. It was only natural for a woman to feel superior to all other women when a great man paid special attention to her.

Evileye was unable to suppress the strange feeling boiling up inside her. It was an anger that disgusted her; the flames of jealousy.

He’s not just strong, he also knows things even I don’t… I’ll never meet a man like him again.

Human females were naturally attracted to the strong. When threatened by a powerful outside force, it triggered a reproductive instinct to join with a strong male and bear his children, receiving protection for herself and her offspring. Of course, not all women would select a man in this manner. Personality, looks, many factors could lead to love. Even so, there was a very strong inclination to look for strength in a partner.

Evileye looked down on such women.

It’s foolish to want to be protected because you’re weak. Instead, all you need to do is become strong, and you won’t need anyone to protect you. That should be the way.

But if she let a man like this go, would she ever meet anyone else who could satisfy her so completely like he could?

Evileye would not age, but Momon would surely grow old and die before her. And no matter how hard she tried, Evileye would never be able to bear Momon’s children. Decades later, she would be lonely again. Still, she thought it might be good to live as a woman for once in her life.

Another woman can have the child. The most important thing is love. I certainly won’t begrudge him a mistress or two.

“Then, please wait here for a while. I apologize for… Evileye?”

“Hm? Ahh, I’m sorry. I was thinking about something myself, things to discuss with my party. I’ll wait here, then.”

Truth to be told, she did not want to part with him. But she also did not want to hang around the woman to whom she had wholeheartedly admitted her defeat.

Of course, she could not say such a thing.

Nobody wanted a woman who was too clingy. Men were creatures who wanted to flee the more you tried to tie them down.

She recalled the idle chatter in the tavern. She had laughed it off at that time because she thought it had nothing to do with her.

What a waste. Even trivia like that has its uses. I should have listened closely… but would it be too late to start now? Will I have time to learn how to be a woman?

As she watched the receding shapes of the two adventurers, Evileye’s head started filling with wild thoughts.

She knew now was not the time for idle fantasies, but she knew too little about what was going on, let alone how to proceed, and so she didn’t do anything. Even so, Evileye would be going into a battle in which she might perish. In that event, she might as well sigh and earnestly consider something else to prevent her dwelling on it.

…it’s a fact.

She did not know what her body was good for if it could not bear children, but it was an avenue that was still worth thinking about.

…Haaa. Defeating Jaldabaoth and making a future…

The blaze in Evileye’s heart roared up, as though challenging Jaldabaoth’s wall of fire.

The only one who can beat you is Momon-sama. Then, I will dispose of the trash around you. This time, if the maid shows herself, I will kill her. I was once the cursed being known as Landfall! Don’t look down on me, Jaldabaoth!

♦ ♦ ♦

“I don’t think she’ll be able to hear us here.”

“It would be very difficult to listen in on us from so far away.”

“Even so, we should still be prepared.”

Ainz activated a cash item. It had the power to prevent eavesdropping, but it felt like a waste because it was a one-use item. However, he had no choice.

“Then, Nabe, I think I’ve seen through Demiurge’s plan for the most part. However, the more complex the machine, the more easily it goes out of control when a single gear goes loose. The same applies to schemes. We must avoid acting like we’ve won and not confirming the facts just because we seem to have the upper hand. Do you understand?”

“I see… as expected of our supreme liege.”

Narberal’s praise came from the bottom of her heart, and Ainz acknowledged it with a regal nod of his head. It was as though he were saying that everything was going according to plan.

This was not the case.

He felt as though he was going to drown in the lake formed from his non-existent cold sweat.

He could not even grasp the meaning behind Demiurge’s scheme. Ainz had simply gone into the battle with the idea of showing off his fighting skills in a debut battle at the Royal Capital.

The shock of learning that his opponent was Demiurge had shattered his composure utterly. Only the emotion override unique to undead beings had kept him calm.

After that he thought he would just be fighting the Eight Fingers just going by his orders, but then he learned that he would be doing battle with adamantite-ranked adventurers. Because he didn’t know what was going on at all, Ainz had nearly given up on thinking things through.

Speaking thoughtlessly under these conditions would sound entirely unnatural. Ainz knew that it was extremely dangerous to pretend understanding when one was actually ignorant. Perhaps it might have been wiser to reveal his lack of knowledge, but under the circumstances, it was ill-advised. A Supreme Being worthy of loyalty would have to demonstrate a fitting amount of foreknowledge.

If a superior—especially one of a CEO’s level—proved himself too incompetent, his subordinates would lose their trust in him.

Therefore, he had frantically racked his non-existent brain cells to produce the aphorism he had just spouted.

Perhaps Narberal was too honest, or the words he spoke had been unexpectedly meaningful. Narberal’s eyes were filled with respect. As such, Ainz made a request of her under the pretense of ordering her.

“Umu. Then, in order to ensure the success of Demiurge’s operation, make contact with him. I will not do it personally because that woman might still be watching. And right now, I cannot use magic. Hm… that Evileye hadn’t let her guard down for a single moment. I don’t have proof, but I’m sure she’s already suspecting me.”

“How could that be? There’s no such thing. Perhaps there’s another reason she’s looking so closely at you.”

Ainz looked at Narberal while trying not to make it obvious that he was staring at her.

“That has to be the reason. I roughly understand how that woman thinks. I believe revealing my anger when we discussed Entoma was a fatal mistake. Perhaps I should have just killed her off without hesitation?”

There was no answer to his words.

When he had heard Entoma had nearly been killed, Ainz’s anger had flared up. Although it had been suppressed in an instant like all intense emotions, in that instant that he had been filled with murderous rage. It was a miracle that he had not promptly chopped off Evileye’s head with his sword.

He had suppressed his killing intent and not acted on his anger because earlier, he had concluded that killing Evileye would have been counterproductive. At long last he had found an introduction to someone who could use resurrection magic—and they were in a position to benefit from it. Ruining this would be too much of a waste.

Perhaps I’ve grown, and learned to control myself.

If it had not been for Shalltear’s brainwashing, it was possible that he would have ignored the potential gains to Nazarick and killed Evileye. The Great Tomb of Nazarick and the NPCs created by his former friends were treasures that Ainz wanted to protect. He would not forgive any attempt to stain them. To that end, he also had to consider what was most important and which choices to make to attain it. That was maturity.

Ainz reflected that his capacity had grown to match his experience, and the illusion of the face underneath his closed helm smiled to itself. At this rate, there was no doubt that he would be able to become a true ruler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. Or rather, he hoped to reach that stage.

Before that, I have to avoid disappointing people or suffering great setbacks… it’ll be very hard on me…

“Is that so? As expected of Ainz-sama, you completely saw through that woman. Such vision could only belong to one destined to sit upon the throne.”

“Enough with the pleasantries, Narberal. More accurately, it was my gaffe which led to her suspicion.”

Ainz waved Narberal off in a gesture that also hid his embarrassment. Then, in a steely voice, he issued his command.

“Let’s go, Narberal. Go and discover all the details of this scheme, and then tell me about them. Also, tell Albedo that if this drags on, we will have to join in clearing up Jaldabaoth’s mess.”

Narberal bowed and cast a spell.

Inside his heart, Ainz rejoiced. He had not lied to Narberal. Ainz’s current use of the [Perfect Warrior] spell meant that he could not use magic. Thus, using Narberal to cast a [Message] to Demiurge was only logical. But there was another reason, one that he could not say out loud.

In order to better pretend that he had already seen through Demiurge’s plans, and not let Albedo and Demiurge suspect anything, he had to minimize contact with them.

If he assigned Narberal to do it, it would be like playing a game of telephone, and some of the information might end up distorted. However, it was a small risk.

It was nothing compared to damaging his image as the supreme ruler of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick.

Ainz slowly made his way back to Evileye.

While Narberal was talking to Demiurge, it would be up to him to draw her attention.

“Good grief.. it’d be good if I could bluff my way through this somehow. Speaking of which, I wonder what the face of a child with such power looks like under the mask…”

Part 2

Lower Fire Month (9th Month), 5th Day 00:47

Though it was in the middle of the night, a corner of the Royal Capital was lit up by torches as though it were broad daylight. A somewhat cramped room was packed full of men and women. They were all dressed in battle gear, but there was no unifying theme among them.