Chapter 12 - Volume 2 (1/2)
Overlord Volu Death
Part 1
They had spent a night outside on the way to Carne Village, and another night within the village itself After that, they left Carne Village for the city of E-Rantel in the hts cahtfall by the time they returned to the Fortress City
The ht」 spells, which cast white-colored illued as well There were no young wo home after they were done for the day The ts of shops on either side emitted cheerful and pleasant sounds
Ainz looked around hied e right after arriving in E-Rantel, so he did not have much basis for comparison Still, he felt that the peaceful streets remained the same
They turned off the main road, and then Ainz and co in thehindrance, but nobody dared coo near Ainz
Ainz shrugged tiredly, and then peeked at the people around hi past on the street see at hi to each other
The sounds of their chatter filtered into Ainz’s ears, and he felt like they werehim However, that was just a mistake on his part If he strained to listen, he would realise that everyone was discussing ht fear
Even so, he could not find it in himself to be relieved
Ainz silently lowered his head and looked at the pearly-white fur beneath hi of the Forest
The people around hi of the Forest’s majestic — Ainz wanted to dispute this choice of words — for how that warrior could ride such a fearsonified beast, and so on
I should be able to take pride in that… right…?
This reaction was entirely understandable The people were praising the Wise King of the Forest as a hty creature, but to Ainz, it was more like a form of public hued bachelor with no fao-round by hihtlyof the Forest had a coular horse, Ainz was forced to stick his butt out and back while spreading his legs wide If he did not adopt this stance — which rese, it would be difficult to keep his balance
Naturally, riding the Wise King of the Forest was not Ainz’s idea It had taken not only the Swords of Darkness and the Wise King of the Forest itself to persuade him, but also Narberal’s hu” That ood idea, but it had ended up like this
If I’d known this would happen I would have refused Could it be soed for this?
Riding a ha one would hear about in children’s fairytales However, those creatures were best suited for boys and girls At a stretch, it ed warrior in full plate ar folk all seee reaction
Could it be that my aesthetic sense is at fault, or that they have weird taste, or is it that this world’s sense of aesthetics is completelyAs long as the ood, then it was Ainz’s aesthetic sense which was at fault This hy he could not protest riding the Wise King of the Forest too vigorously In addition, if riding it made Momon the adventurer thathis feet here — all the more reason to do so All the same—
Isn’t this basically a form of shame play?
Ainz’s psyche automatically suppressed any enitude, but this was not happening now In other words, this was not really affecting hi
Does this mean I’m immune to shame play… don’t tell me I’m a masochist?… But I’ve always felt I was more on the sadist side…
“Since we’re back in town, it seenes and videos he had collected in the past to his current onized over his sexual fetishes, Peter and Nfirea struck up a conversation
“Indeed, you’re right, the request is at an end Then… while I’ve already prepared the arranged reotiated in the forest Could you coon behind Nfirea was piled high with herbs In addition, there was tree bark, strange fruits which looked like branches, a gigantic h for a rasses, and other such harvests To an apile of glittering treasure
After Ainz subdued the Wise King of the Forest, they were free to fully explore the region in its former sphere of influence They discovered redients which could be used to make other potions Nfirea picked and picked nonstop, proenerous bonus on top of the prearranged ao to the Adventurer’s Guild first!”
“Mht aof the Forest with the Guild”
“It’s troublesome, but it can’t be helped”
“Well, iped out those Ogres and other ether?”
“Hmm — no, I think not Mo for this job, so we should go to Nfirea-san’s house first to help with the chores and unload the herbs Otherwise I wouldn’t be able to accept getting the same fees as Momon-san”
The Swords of Darkness nodded as Peter spoke, and Nfirea politely added:
“There’s no need to trouble everyone…”
“Well, you did agree to pay us a bonus, so consider this a free service on our part”
After hearing Peter’s light-hearted statement, Nfirea politely replied:
“Then, when you coive you a discount”
“Nothing would please us more Then, Momon-san, please head to the Guild first, and meet us at Nfirea-san’s home afterwards We’ll proceed directly to Nfirea-san’s hoo to the Guild to take care of paperwork Unfortunately, we’ll have to trouble you to coain tores then… we’ll meet at the same time as the last time we met you”
“Understood”
Ainz nodded in response to this suggestion Since he could si the Guild receptionists, he did not want to go to the Guild with them He would have to pretend that he kne to read this and write that, and it o up in smoke
“Then, we’ll let you take care of business”
Ainz nodded slightly, and then he and Narberal parted ith Nfirea and the Swords of Darkness At this point, Narberal leaned in and asked:
“Can we trust them?”
“…It’s fine Even if they betray us, the res If we fixate on that measly amount of money and end up with a reputation as penny-pinchers, it’ll do ood to our cause”
Ainz had co a reputation for pettiness would impede his future plans
He would si-hearted
As he thought of that, Ainz idly reached for his laced-up ertips pressed it flat aln that there was not much money inside — but he could easily tell that there were still a few coins left However, he had the night’s lodgings to worry about
It h if he included the costs for food and drink, but Ainz was undead, while the ring on Narberal’s finger was iic that removed the need for her to eat or drink, which helped a lot in cutting costs Narberal could wear and use two rings, and one of her ring slots was allocated to this one Initially, it had been chosen to protect against consu poisonous, but it had proved unexpectedly useful in this situation
However, as he glanced at the Wise King of the Forest beneath hiot to eat at some point”
Then Narberal cut in:
“Indeed… it would be strange for the alhty Ainz-saies for my rudeness”
“Uain, and he felt what seemed like a stream of sweat on his back, which should not have been to produce sweat He silently cursed hi himself for no reason And also—
Ainz-sama… don’t call me that any more, Narberal At least nobody was around to hear you…
As Ainz sighed internally, Narberal happily continued:
“Those inferior lifeforms (crane flies) should prostrate themselves before your awesome power, Ainz-sama”
“Well,too res must be less than insects in your eyes, your sword skills are still first-rate I ae tre of the Forest, but he paid it no heed, and instead told Narberal:
“…I wassheer brute force”
Though killing Ogres in one stroke sounded quite impressive, this was not actually the case When he watched Gazef fight earlier, Ainz had seen the man’s fluid movements and technique, but when he reflected on his ownaround with a stick It shamed him to realize it
What the Swords of Darkness admired was only the destructive power born of his superhuth It was completely different from their praise of a real warrior like Gazef
“It would seeht like a real warrior”
“…Then what about using ic to transform into one?”
There were five spells Ainz could use while wearing aric caster levels into an equivalent nu that spell, he could temporarily becoh it also carried the benefit of being able to use certain pieces of arms and armor that would normally require specific job classes to access, there were many drawbacks to that spell The first weakness was that he could not cast other spells while the ain any special warrior skills from the spell, and his recalculated ability scores would be lower than an actual warrior In other words, it was a spell that turned him into a half-baked level one hundred warrior Of course, it was enough whenblades with second-rate combatants like priests and the like, but he would have no chance of winning against an opponent as a dedicated warrior
Even so, Ainz would be er in that state than he was now
The problem was —
“There’s too many drawbacks to that spell If I’m aic for a while, and defeat is certain I could use scrolls to cast spells, but it would take too much preparation time It’s still a major flaw in the spell”
Since he did not know if there were any eneuard There was no need to use that spell andto be a warrior to hide my true identity, so there’s no need to be so shocked”
“!”
A tre of the Forest as it raised its head to look at Ainz, a surprised look on its face
“Your hu to your words; could it be that you are not a warrior,of the Forest looked up to Ainz with its round, black eyes Ainz looked back and nodded, as if to say, Indeed, that is so With a hint of pride in her voice, Narberal explained:
“Ainz-saame to him If he were to use the spells which are his true power, he could easily sunder the heavens and shatter the earth”
Ainz could not bring himself to deny Narberal ords like, “No way,” not when he was confronted with her absolute faith in hiical
“…M of the Forest, aren’t you glad you didn’t fight the real me? If I had used my true power, you would have been destroyed in an instant”
“I, I see… Milord, your servant Hamsuke shall be doubly faithful to you!”
When the Wise King of the Forest asked for a na that came to Ainz’sof the Forest seeht about it, the name Hamsuke was actually quite la it Haht have been wittier… the people in the guild always said I had poor naret, Ainz —of the Forest — wobbled toward the Adventurer’s Guild
♦ ♦ ♦
They drove the wagon into the house’s backyard, stopping in front of the back door Nfirea unlocked the door, ait on a wall inside, illu the darkened interior
Because of the lantern’s light, they could see several barrels within the house The s that this rooe
“Then, could I trouble you to help me with the herbs?”
The Swords of Darkness cheerfully replied in the affirmative as they carefully unloaded the bundles of herbs fro them into the room
As he showed the adventurers where to put the bundles, a question popped up in his randmother was quite old, but she still had keen eyes and ears She should have cos However, if she was focused onpotions, then she would not pay attention to lesser noises Since this see deal out of it
After all the herbs were in their place, Nfirea called out to the slightly-panting Swords of Darkness
“Thank you for your hard work! There should be some cool fruit juice in the house, so please coreat”
Lukrut, his forehead shi+ny with sweat, exclaiht The others nodded happily as well
“Then, please come this way…”
Just as Nfirea was about to lead the others into the house, someone opened the door on the other side of the room
“Hiiii~ Welcouely unsettling young woman Her blonde hair swayed in the wind
“Ah~ I’ve been worried, you know? I thought you wentback, so I had to wait here all this while, you know?”
“…May, may I ask who you are?”
“Eh! You don’t know each other?”
Peter exclaiht they knew each other, from her familiar tone of voice
“Hm? Ehehehe~ I came to kidnap you~ I need so horde of undead, 「Undeath Ar you~”
The Swords of Darkness sensed the air of irl, and they ih everyone else was in a coirl airily said:
“That’s a seventh tier spell which hardly anyone can use, but it can be cast with the Crown of Wisdouide them! What a perfect plan~!”
“Nfirea-san, fall back! Get out of here!”
Peter eyed the woman warily, his sword in hand, and spoke in a steely tone:
“She’s going on and on because she’s certain she can kill us all Since you’re her target, the only way to turn things around is for you to escape”
As Nfirea withdrew in a panic, the Swords of Darkness closed ranks in front of hi theo too!”
After Dyne spoke, Lukrut shouted:
“Take the kid and run! Weren’t you going to save your kidnapped sister?”
“That’s right You’ve got soht not be able to help you until the very end… at least we can buy you so~ I’m about to shed a tear myself, mm But if he escapes, it’d be troublesoirl smiled happily and withdrew a pair of stilettos froaze on Ninya’s face as he bit his lip Just then, the rear door swung open, revealing a sickly-pale, stick-thin man, who looked like one of the undead
They were caught in a pincer attack The Swords of Darkness’ faces turned gri carried away”
“Ah~ What’re you saying, Khazi-chan? Weren’t you the onepreparations so their screams wouldn’t spill out? It’s just one person, so let irl smiled with her teeth bared sent a chill down Nfirea’s spine
“Then, since there’s nowhere for you to run, let’s have so Hah, but it took about one and a half hours Thean identification picture of Haic could have sped up the process, Ainz did not want to go to the extra expense of paying for a spell, which had led to this situation
Ainz had tolabelled as petty
“Although it’s a little late to ’ excuse is getting old… Ah, forget it Let’s go over now,” Ainz said to Narberal as he finished the registration, before he headed toward Hamsuke
He had becoo-round was not the exclusive domain of the rich — or people with lovers or family — then it made no difference if a lonely older iven up on himself, there was no hesitation in Ainz’shis superior athletic ability, heof the Forest with a one down in the history books He did not have a saddle or reins, but several hours of experience was enough for Ainz to learn how to skillfullyin awe as far as his eyes could see He could even hear the sounds of wo in exciteazes of his fellow adventurers burning into hi the copper plate around Ainz’s neck, their eyes ith disbelief
I’ this What’s wrong with your sense of aesthetics?
Just then, a voice called out to Ainz, interrupting the foolish questions in his heart and the process of ordering Hamsuke to move out
“Say, would you be the people ent herb-picking with ed one When he turned to look, he found an old granny
“…And who uess at the answer If this granny’s words were genuine, then there could be only one answer to that question
“My narandht, I’randson to Carne Village My name is Mo Narberal:
“She’s an unbelievably beautiful girl And what is the na?”
“It is the Wise King of Forest, Hamsuke”
“This one is Hamsuke! This one is very pleased to endary Wise King of the Forest!?”
The adventurers around them who heard Lizzie’s cry were even more surprised With shocked looks on their faces, they whispered, “Is that really the ends?” and so on
“Indeed After receiving your grandson’s request, we encountered it at our destination and I ed to ta of the Forest…”
Lizzie was du but stare
“Then… where is randson now?”
“Ah, he went ho over there now to collect our payh of relief, and then looked at Ainz with a strange look in her eyes:
“Oh, I see… then, shall we go together? I’m quite interested in you adventurer types”
To Ainz, Lizzie’s suggestion was like a life preserver to a drowning roup proceeded through the streets of E-Rantel, led by Lizzie
♦ ♦ ♦
“Then, please come in”
Once they reached the storefront, Lizzie came to the front door and took out her keys Then, she looked down, and pushed The door swung open, without any resistance
“What’s this? This is too careless of him”
Lizzie muttered to herself as she entered the shop Ainz and Narberal followed her
“Nfirea, Moh the shop, but it was silent It felt as though there was nobody there
“What happened?”
Lizzie was filled with confusion Ainz, on the other hand, replied curtly:
“Trouble”
Lizzie heard, but did not understand Ainz paid her no heed, but instead placed his hands on the hilts of his greatswords Narberal figured out what he was up to from that action and she drew her sword as well
“What, what are you doing!?”
“Don’t ask, just follow”
With that clipped answer, Ainz drew his weapons and entered the store He kicked the door open and kept to the right as he went in Though this was a stranger’s house, completely unfamiliar to him, there was no trace of hesitation in Ainz’s footsteps
Ainz came to a door which led down, and then turned to Lizzie, who had just caught up with him:
“What is this place for?”
“This, this is the herb storage rooh she was not sure as going on, Lizzie sensed that sonored her and pushed the door open
What he smelled was not the scent of herbs, but a more acrid odour — the stench of blood
The first people he saere Peter and Lukrut Dyne was a bit further beyond Ninya was all the way inside the roos stuck forward and their arms drooped down lifelessly They seemed to have lost all the blood in their bodies, which was now clotted on the ground so thickly that it looked black
“This, what is this…”
A shocked Lizzie made to enter with shaky footsteps Ainz put a hand on her shoulder to keep her froet ahead of her
Just then, the fallen Peter suddenly jerked like a puppet However, before he could get up, the greatsword flashed across hiround With the blade in his other hand, he decapitated Lukrut, as halfway through standing up
Just as Lizzie edy before her, Dyne, as somewhat further inside, had already risen to his feet
The face which raised itself was not a living one There was no color in it and its eyes were clouded There was a hole in its forehead, instantly recognizable as a fatal injury
There was only one reason why a dead ain — because he was undead
“Zoroaned reatsword at Dyne His throat pierced, Dyne’s head shuddered and then he collapsed
nobody else moved
A Ninya
“Nfirea!”
Lizzie finally realized as going on, and began looking for her grandson Ainz narrowed his eyes at her receding back, and gave Narberal an order
“Protect her My passive skill 「Undead Blessing」 isn’t giving me any reactions, so there shouldn’t be anypeople inside”
“Understood”
After a quick nod of her head, Narberal broke into a sprint to catch up with Lizzie
Once he one, Ainz looked toward Ninya again He kneeled slowly before hiently touched the body Once he was sure that there were none of the usual corpse boobytraps found in YGGDRASIL, he raised Ninya’s face Of course, he was not unconscious, but dead
He iven how his cheeks were bloated up like poht not have recognized the corpse at all
His left eye was crushed, and the vitreous hu
The bones of his fingers were co the red muscle underneath In some places, there was no muscle at all Ainz pulled open Ninya’s clothes, and his eyes ide in surprise
He closed up the garment, and muttered:
“…So even the body was…”
Much like the face, the body bore signs of a brutal beating It was covered in the bruises of internal bleeding, and it would be harder to find a patch of uninjured flesh than the other way around
Ainz gently closed Ninya’s eyes
“…This is a little… upsetting”
The sound of his randson! Nfirea’s gone!”
Lizzie returned, shouting at the top of her voice Ainz had gathered all the corpses into a corner of the rooear None of the the case, the opposition must have intended to kidnap Nfirea”
“Oh!”
“Come see this”
Ainz pointed to the letters written in blood under Ninya’s corpse They would not be visible unless someone moved them
“This is… the sewers? Does it ht be a trap set by the person who did this, and I have no idea how big the sewers are… searching the time What do you think?”
“There’s numbers there, 2-8, what could that h I don’t knohat those nuuess that you can divide the city into eight sections, or it h, did Ninya really have the time to think of all that? Even if Ninya did write it, how much could he have learned from the enemy? This is far too much of a coincidence”
Lizzie frowned her already wrinkled face, directing so the entire situation with unexpected calround
“Who are these people?”
“…They were the adventurers your son hired, ith us After we parted ways, they should have come to help him unload the herbs”
“What!? Then they’re your comrades, aren’t they?”
Ainz shook his head:
“No, they were not We just happened to be adventuring together”
His cold words chilled Lizzie to the bone, and she had no desire to pursue the matter further
“Co about their corpses, but I’d like your opinion What do you think about the turned into Zombies?”
“…「Create Undead」 That means the eneic I don’t know anything else apart fro quickly”
“Isn’t that obvious… what do you mean by that?”
“…The enemy could have used mind control or hidden the corpses, but they did not do that at all They seemed to have done it for fun Otherwise, they did it because they were absolutely sure they would not be exposed, or that they were completely confident in their ability to escape Hm… I don’t knohich of theht the corpses back with theht?”
If they wanted to kidnap Nfirea, all they would have to do was hide the bodies, which would have bought theh time to escape However, the enes to do, or because they wanted Lizzie to do so
The latter was easier to deal with It was the former which was tricky Nfirea’s life and talent were valuable, but theyWould these cruel people who could kill without blinking an eye let hi hi hidden in Ainz’s words, her gray face turned white With no idea where he had been taken in this gigantic city, they would need to search the whole of E-Rantel, which would take far too long
Their only clue was the sewers, but Ainz had his doubts about it
The fla moment
Ainz calmly turned to the panicked Lizzie and asked:
“How about hiring us?”
The cold voice continued:
“Isn’t this soht ca at
“You are a very lucky woest adventurer in this city, and the only one who can save your grandson’s life If you hire me, I will accept your request However… the price will be very high, because I aht be”
“That, that’s right… if it was you… the one who possessed that potion… and with the Wise King of the Forest… then there’s no doubt about your strength… I’ll hire, I’ll hire you!”
“Is that so… are you prepared to pay a high price for this?”
“How ”
“What?”
“Giveyou have”
Lizzie’s eyes widened in shock, and her body tre you have When I safely return Nfirea to you, giveaway in fear, Lizzie … you don’t rant any wish in return for men’s souls Are you a demon?”
“…And what if I was? Do you want to save your grandson?”
Lizzie did not respond, silently biting her lip
“Then there’s only one answer, right?”
“U I have, so please save randson!”
“Very well, the pact is sealed Then, let’s not waste time Do you have a map of this city? If you do, lend it to me”
Lizzie had her doubts, but she still handed the map to Ainz immediately
“Then, we shall find Nfirea’s location next”
“Can you do such a thing!?”
“Only this time Just this one time, I can I don’t know if the enemy was stupid or…”
As Ainz’s voice trailed off halfway, he turned to look at the four corpses resting within the rooin the search Go look in the other rooms and see if the people who kidnapped Nfirea left any clues behind If kidnapping Nfirea was itself a distraction, that would s troublesome You’re familiar with this ho up a reason to get Lizzie out of the room, Ainz turned to Narberal
“May I ask what you intend?”
“Si, probably taken by the person who attacked this place The question nohy they didn’t take anything more valuable, but these plates… what do you think?”
“My apologies, but I have no idea”
“That’s because—”
Halfway through, a voice spoke in Ainz’s e」 spell
『Ainz-sah-pitched, and there was soround
“Is that you, Entoma?”
『Yes, it is me』
It was Entoma Vasilisa Zeta She was a member of the Pleiades, like Narberal
『I have a report to deliver』
“—I’ain when I’m free”
『Understood Please contact Albedo-sama as soon as possible』
The spell ended, and Ainz continued replying to Narberal, as looking at hi Probably a memento for the killer to remember them by However, that was a fatal mistake Narberal, use these scrolls”
Ainz pulled a scroll from his Infinite Backpack and handed it to Narberal
“This is a scroll of 「Locate Object」 I trust I don’t have to tell you what to look for?”
“Understood”
With that acknowledgement, Narberal opened the scroll Just as she was about to activate it, Ainz grabbed her hand and coldly rebuked Narberal:
“…Idiot”
Narberal’s shoulder shuddered as Ainz scolded her
“My, ic, you need to prepare yourself thoroughly against the ene it This is an ironclad rule When considering that the opposition ht use 「Detect Locate」, it’s a basic precaution to use 「False Cover」, 「Counter Detect」, and the like to protect yourself Also—”
Ainz prepared about ten more scrolls, and explained the function of each one to Narberal like a teacher
When using ic to collect infore
When Ainz Ooal Gown PKed, they gathered as much information on the opposition as possible and then launched an ambush to swiftly decide the ins,” as stated by the guildfor Du these skills to Narberal, so they would have the advantage if they encountered other players in the future
“—That’s basically it The fact is, you still need to use skills to improve the effectiveness of your spells and defend yourself, but I don’t think we need to prepare so ainst our eneic caster who knew more spells to deal with the enemy, they wouldn’t have siin, Narberal”
A relieved Narberal carefully opened a scroll and recited the name of the spell inscribed upon it
A heatless fla it within seconds and releasing the ic locked within
She did the sa herself in countless protective spells did she finally cast 「Locate Object」 After that, she pointed to a location on the map:
“There”
Ainz could not understand the characters, and racked his brains for soraveyard, huh As I thought, it wasn’t the sewers after all”
E-Rantel was also a raveyard was est of its size The spell pointed to the deepest reaches of the graveyard
“I see Then, use 「Clairvoyance」 next Combine it with 「Crystal Monitor」 so I can see as well”
Narberal activated the scrolls oncein mid-air revealed countless human shapes However, their movements were oddly stiff In addition, there were e
There was a boy in their ely, but there was no mistake about him
“So he’s definitely there And theroup of undead around Nfirea They were all low tier undead, but they were present in surprising numbers
“…What do you plan to do? Teleport in and wipe theic to attack them from above?”
“Don’t be silly Wouldn’t either of those ets solved without anyone knowing about it?”
Seeing that Narberal had no idea of what he was talking about, Ainz continued his explanation:
“Whoever created all these undeadproportions Therefore, if we save Nfirea and deal with that reatly boost our reputations If we do this on the quiet, ill only receive Lizzie’s payain much fame from it”
That said, if they did not take care of the situation quickly, there was a high chance that Nfirea ht die Even Ainz could not summon this many undead and control them, so there must have been soht well be an important part of that trick
That said, he wanted to know the secret of that trick, even if it cost Nfirea’s life
The then the Great To Nfirea, then he would gladly pay that price
“I’d like to collect more information, but our preparations and time won’t allow it,” Ainzit, he shouted:
“Lizzie! We’re ready We’re heading to the graveyard now!”
“What about the sewers?”
Lizzie’s voice ca footsteps
“The sewer is just a red herring which the author of this tragedy left for us They’re actually in the graveyard, together with an army of undead There’s easily thousands of them there”
“What!?”
Of course it was an estimate How could he have counted all of them?
“No need to be shocked We intend to cut a path through theuarantee that undead arraveyard You need to tell as many people as possible to hold the undead back if they see the out There’s no proof, but I’ name like you If the undead ran wild and there was nobody stopping them… that would be troublesome, no?”
Ainz’s face twisted under his helrand spectacle of this, it’ll be a pain The more I heat this up, the more fa this, after all
“That’s all I have to say Tiht now”
“Do you have a way to break through that army of the dead?”
Ainz looked quietly at Lizzie, and then pointed to the greatswords on his back
“Don’t you see it right here?”
Part 3
There was a place which occupied roughly a quarter of E-Rantel’s outer ring, which was also most of the western quadrant It was E-Rantel’s coraveyards, none of the as this one
This was in order to suppress the spawning of the undead
Although enesis of the undead, the basic idea was that vile creatures frequently spawned fro came to an end Of these, people who died sudden, violent deaths and the dead ere not properly revered had the highest chance of co back to unlife Therefore, battlefields and ruins tended to be infested by the undead
Since E-Rantel was very close to the Eraveyard — a place where remains could receive the proper veneration
In this aspect, the neighboring country — the Ereehtered each other, they both saw the undead that attacked the living as their common enemy
In addition, there was another problem with the undead If left unattended, the undead spawned uards and adventurers patrolled the graveyards day and night to exterminate the weaker undead as soon as possible
A wall surrounded the graveyard This as the boundary between the living and dead While it was only four meters tall and could not coh for people to walk on top of it The large doors set into its side were sturdy and could not be easily breached
All this was in order to ward against the undead that spawned in the graveyard
There were staircases to the left and right of the doors, and watchtowers along the length of the wall The guards took turns observing the graveyard below them as they yawned from the watchtowers, in shi+fts of five raveyard was lined with sconces enchanted with 「Continual Light」 spells, so there was ahttime Still, there were many shadowy places, and visibility was even worse in those places blocked by touard absent colleague:
“Tonight’s quite peaceful too”
“Yup, there were only five Skeletons earlier, right? That seems a lot less compared to the past”
“Hm, could it be the souls of the dead were called back by the Four Gods? That would be pretty lucky for us if it were true”
The other guards were drawn in by the topic, and began speaking up:
“Well, if it’s just Skeletons and Zombies we can deal with them Still, it’s a pain to take out Skeletons with a spear”
“I think the hts”
“For me it’s the Skeleton Centipedes I’d be dead by now if the adventurers standing guard nearby didn’t chase them away from me”
“Skeleton Centipedes? I heard that the powerful undead only shohen you let the weak ones get away So all you need to do is kill the undead won’t appear”
“Yes, that’s right The captain chewed out the squad patrolling the graveyard last week While it’s nice to have theh that sort of thing again”
“Still… when I think about it, I’ve got a bad feeling about the lack of undead right now”
“…Why’s that?”
“Ah, I just feel like weour watches”
“You’re thinking too much There aren’t that many undead normally They say that they only pop up frequently when they bury the corpses of the people who died while fighting the Empire So on the flip side, this is what happens when there aren’t any big wars, right?”
The soldiers nodded to each other in agreees, but they had never heard of the undead appearing that often
“…So that means the Katze Plains must be pretty insane”
“Yeah, didn’t they say so up?”
It was a place where the Edom clashed in fierce battles It was also a place famous for the proliferation of its undead Adventurers hired by the Kingdoo there to hunt down the undead This task was idom’s support corps had built small towns nearby to support their personnel
“I heard—”
A guard as about to speak suddenly shut his uard, who felt easy about this, spoke up:
“Oi, don’t scare uard looked straight at the graveyard, as though he could see through the darkness Following this, the other guards turned to look at the graveyard one after the other
“…Didn’t you hear it?”
“Were you ih I didn’t hear the wind blowing or the grass raves just now? It smells just like it did then…”
“Co”
“…Eh? Ah, oi! Look over there!”
One of the guards pointed to the graveyard, and everyone else looked toward the spot he was pointing at
Two guards were sprinting for the doors Both of them panted heavily, their eyes bloodshot, and their sweat-slick hair stuck to their foreheads
A growing sense of dread filled the other guards as they saw this
Guard patrols in the graveyard roups of at least ten Why were there only two people here? Judging by the way they had no weapons and were running for dear life, they had panicked and fled
“Open, open up! Hurry up and open the doors!”
Upon seeing the two uards hurriedly ran down the stairs and let the fully open, the two guards forced their way in They collapsed to the ground but kept scrabbling on
“What the hell…”
The two pale-faced guards who had just escaped the graveyard interrupted their questioners, panting and shouting:
“Close, close the doors! Quickly!”
This strange behavior sent a chill down the spine of the other guards Working together, they pushed the doors shut and barred them
“What happened? What about the others?”
As they heard this question, a haunted look appeared on the guards’ frightened faces:
“They, they were eaten by the undead!”
Upon realizing that eight of their fellows had lost their lives, the guards immediately turned to their captain He io upstairs and take a look!”
A guard hurriedly climbed the stairs, but halfway up, he froze in place
“What, what happened?”
The treuard shouted:
“The undead! The undead are everywhere!”
If one listened carefully, they would be able to alloping, couard from just noere struck dumb by the scene before thereat as to render all who saw it speechless — approached the doors of the graveyard
“Why, in such numbers…”
“Looks like it’s more than one or two hundred… there should be a thousand of thehts illu in the dark, and it was difficult to get an exact count
Wreathed in the scent of rot, the shaathering clouds It was not just Zombies and Skeletons down there; there were also a few rarer and hts, Swell Skins, Corrupt Dead, and
Because the graveyard was surrounded by a wall, the undead could not attack the co as the wall held out However, even if they uards, it was doubtful whether they could fend off such a uards were essentially nor out these undead
In addition, some undead could turn their slain victiuardstheir fellows And while they had not seen any flying undead yet, the guards had a bad feeling — that if they did not wipe the sooner or later
—The undead tide washed up against the side of the wall
Doo, ainst the doors It was as if they knew that they could attack the living if they broke the doors down
Doo and the constant moans of the dead came froe rams The undead — who did not care if their bodies were destroyed by their non-stop battering — were siege weapons in their own right
Cold sweat broke out on the backs of the guards who saw this
“Ring the bell! Ask for help froo inform the other doors about this!”
The captain, who had recovered his senses by now, continued giving orders:
“The ones behind, take your spears and stab the undead getting close to the doors!”
The guards remembered their duty as they heard the orders, and they started thrusting savagely at the undead below them The undead covered the land like a flood, so any stroke of theirs found a home in undead flesh
They thrust, withdrew, and thrust again
Tainted blood spilled over the ground, while the guards’ noses were soon inured to the stench of decay They repeated the saain like workers They killed several undead, which fell to the ground and were trampled to paste by the ones behind theence, they did not strike against the guards stabbing at the the saer
And then, as though ai for that moment —
“Uwaaaaaaaah!”
A screauards turned to look, they saw souard’s neck
It was a slimy, pink object — an intestine
The creature that had shot forth this length of intestine was an egg-shaped undead creature, with a huge cavity on the front of its body Within that cavity were several people’s worth of internal organs, churning and wriggling like parasites
This undead creature was called an Organ Egg
The writhing intestine pulled at the guard’s body
“Hyaaaaaaa!”
Before his friends could save hiuard wailed and fell—
“Save, save yaaaah!”
—His screauard saw the terrible fate of their colleague, eaten alive by the throng of undead
The armor which protected his body and his atte His fingers, his calves, his face, all of them were picked clean
“Fall back! Get down fro’s innards twitching, the guard captain ordered a retreat
All the guards hurriedly ran down the stairs, and they could hear the sounds of the undead banging at the doors getting louder The doors the under the strain
The sense of doo out until help arrived, or that no other strong undead would shoere very low Once the doors opened, the tide of death would flood in, and only the Gods kne uards were fully consu of metal
Everyone reflexively looked to the source of the sound
Before their eyes was a ence, and a warrior in full plate armor Beside them was a beautiful woman who seemed completely miserous! Get out of—”
Halfway through the guard’s words, he realized that there was afrom the warrior’s neck
An adventurer!
However, that ember of hope was snuffed out when he saw that it was a copper plate Adventurers of the lowest class could not possibly deliver them from this dilemuards present
The warrior nimbly dismounted his beast There was no sense of clumsiness in his movements
“Didn’t you hear me? Get out of here now!”
“Nabe, uard’s shouting, but it was surprisingly resonant even through the cla undead The beautiful woreatsword froht?”
The guards turned around in response to the warrior’s words, and they looked upon their doom
They saw a shape which was taller than the four antic undead creature made of countless corpses
“Uwaaaaah—”
Just as the guards screaht appeared before them The warrior from just now raised his sword in a javelin-thrower’s stance
What was he doing?
In the next ht
The warrior hurled his sith unbelievable speed The guards hurriedly looked where the sword had flown, and there they saw an even ht
The Necrosoly invincible undead creature, staggered back like it had been hit in the head by an even larger foe, before collapsing to the ground A thunderous crash provided the proof that the gigantic creature had been knocked down
“—These undead are in the way”
With that, the dark warrior drew his other greatsword and advanced
“Open up”
The guards did not seem to have understood what the warrior said They blinked several tied to parse the warrior’s words
“Don’t, don’t be foolish!+ There’s a whole crowd of undead on the other side of the door!”
“So? What does that matter to me, Momon?”
Faced by the absolute confidence of the dark warrior, all of the guards were shaken to the core, and they could not respond
“…Well, if you won’t open up, it can’t be helped I’ll go over there myself”
The warrior broke into a sprint and kicked off the stone floor, vanishi+ng over the other side of the wall He had leapt over a fourfull plate too
It was a scene that barely see themselves to believe the events which had just occurred Each of the slack-jawed at the place where Momon had been
The beautiful woinal position She looked like she would cross the wall like that, but then a voice halted her:
“Athis one with you!”
The voice cahty beast which the warrior fro as its appearance
The beautiful girl’s brows furrowed slightly — not that it daed her looks at all — and responded to the beast:
“…Climb the stairs over there You should still be able to ht?”
“Of course! This one must rush to his master’s side! Wait for this one, uards and nimbly bounded up the stairs It hopped over the wall and landed on the other side
Now all was silence
They stared with open h a typhoon had just swept past theuard to recover spoke in a voice that trembled uncontrollably:
“Oi… do you hear it?”
“Hear what?”
“The sounds of the undead”
Even though they strained their ears to listen, they could not hear anything It was as though a veil of silence had been drawn across the land The constant sound of the undead pounding on the doors frouards muttered:
“Oi, did that actually happen? That warrior… there were undead like that, and so ht ahead”
They were filled with equal parts shock and awe
The reason why the noise had stopped was because the nearby undead had been draay by a new target Given that the sound still had not returned, it i and had not returned
This unbelievable scenario drew the guards to the top of the walls to satisfy their curiosity They could not believe what they saw from up there, and they muttered:
“What is this… that warrior… what kind of a round Mountains of corpses were everywhere, covering the entire graveyard Although soled weakly to ht
The smell of decay floated over as they expected, and they heard the sounds of distant battle
“…No way… he’s still fighting? All these undead, strong ones too, and he could actually break through them! Incredible…!”
“Who was that warrior, anyway?”
“…He called hi someone with skills like that a copper plate is too endary adventurers with an adaht?”
The others quietly voiced their approval Someone like that could not be a mere copper plate adventurer
He should be sohest ranked of all metals — in other words, a hero
There was no other possibility
“We… perhaps we just saw a end… a dark warrior… no, a dark hero…”
Everyone else could not help but nod in response to that
♦ ♦ ♦
When his right handaway When his left hand struck, the undead were cut in two
Ainz — a tornado of death which killed everything it touched — finally ground to a halt
“What bothersoreatswords with ic, and now he held them in both hands He looked on the undead around him with an exasperated expression on his face, and then pointed a greatsword caked in vile fluids at them
The undead recoiled at this and tried to flee Ainz The undead should not have known theof fear, yet they had coizes deeply for this one’s actions…”
The sound ca of the Forest floated in mid-air, limbs spread Its whiskers drooped down and its voice sounded equally lifeless
However, the person who responded was not Ainz
“You… settle down up there It’s hard to carry you when you squirm”
Narberal’s voice ca of the Forest It was not flying, but rather Narberal, who had cast the flight spell on herself, was carrying it She was halfway buried into the Wise King of the Forest’s fur
“My deepest apologies…”
The unintelligent undead had not attacked Ainz when he appeared This was because they could perceive life-force, and they sensed that Ainz was of the same kind as they
However, the sa of the Forest behind him This resulted in a chaotic battle which drew Ainz in, and the Wise King of the Forest was thus carried up by Narberal lest the undead touch it
With every step Ainz took forward, the undead took one back They encircled hi their distance froh the undead see for a chance to attack, any who stepped forere immediately destroyed by Ainz Therefore, the undead merely surrounded him, but did not make a move on him
Countless undead had already been annihilated by Ainz when they carelessly strayed too close to Ainz Even thefrom this, which hy they had chosen to surround him
“Still, if this keeps up, it’ll only be a stale of undead that still remained
If he wanted to break the encircleh the undead horde However, if he forced his way through, the undead would scatter in all directions and the nearby guardsinjured or killed If that happened, he would lose the witnesses to his deeds, and thus fail the objective of being “the adventurer who cleared up this matter” Therefore, he had to lure the undead to hiuards However, doing so ress very slow
And then, Narberal responded in earnest to Ainz’s words:
“Should we summon reinforcements fro in this graveyard that dares stand against you, Ainz-sama”
“…Don’t be silly Howto this city?”
“But, Ainz-sama, if anted to win fae into the city and causein?”
“I have considered that possibility as well If we knew our eneht be able to do that But since we lack infor this chance It would also be very annoying to have to dance to the opposition’s tune In addition, frolory first”
“I see… Ainz-sama, you are truly incredible To think your plan was so i less of our Supreme Ruler I bow before your superior wisdo of which… your foolish vassal would like to be enlightened on one point Would it not be better to send the Eight Edge assassins, Shadow De thereat shi+ft in the circumstances occurs, and then seize the moment when it comes?”
Ainz silently looked at Narberal, as floating in the air
The night wind blew softly Any undead who sought to exploit this perceived weakness would instead be destroyed in one hit by a swing of Ainz’s greatswords
“…If, if I taught you everything, hoould you learn? Figure it out yourself”
“Yes! My deepest apologies”
Ainz had been somewhat shaken by this He forcefully jerked his head back to double check the distance between hiuards could still see hietting quite tight It can’t be helped — I guess I’ll have to carve a path through them”
Ainz unleashed his power
「Create Mid Tier Undead: Jack the Ripper」 「Create Mid Tier Undead: Corpse Collector」
After using his skill, two undead creatures appeared
One of them was dressed in a trenchcoat and wore a e, sharp surgical scalpels
The other was a massive, brawny creature, but its body was covered in pustules and the bandages which wrapped its entire body were stained yellow There were many metal hooks all over its body, linked byskulls
“Kill them”
The two undead obeyed Ainz’s orders and laid into the surrounding undead horde Though there were only two of theer by far
As Jack the Ripper severed limbs with each swipe of its scalpel hands and the Corpse Collector wrenched off the heads of the undead with its chains, Ainz continued using his skills
“Then, let’s take care of things on this side too”
Those skills were 「Create Low Tier Undead: Wraith」 and 「Create Low Tier Undead: Bone Vulture」 After su several of them, he ordered:
“Chase away any intruders that enter the graveyard Killing adventurers is fine, but do not kill the guards”
The Wraiths’ bodies shi+s and flew up Now that his as done, Ainz smiled to himself
The low tier undead were there just in case soic to reach the enemy’s location and steal the credit for his hard work
“Then, let’s go”
As the two sumed into the greatly thinned ranks of the undead horde
♦ ♦ ♦
Only Narberal remained with Ainz by the tiraveyard Several suspicious-looking felloere standing in a circle in front of the chapel, apparently conducting some kind of ritual
They all wore crude black robes which covered their entire bodies, and which varied in both texture and color Their black head cloths hid their faces and only showed their eyes, while the wooden staves they carried had strange carvings on their ends
They were short, and by the way they carried themselves, they were probably all ed to the man in the middle, and he looked like he was undead He ell-dressed, and see on the black stone that he held in his hand
The wind carried whispered words to Ainz’s ears The voices in the air rose and fell in unison, and it sounded like so However, it did not sound like a requiem to the dead, but ainst the deceased
“Should we ambush them?” Narberal asked However, Ainz shook his head
“It wouldn’t help Besides, it seems they’ve already spotted us”
Ainz had no concealment-related skills, so he sih he could have avoided the lights of the graveyard, all the opposition would need to do was use 「Darkvision」 in order to see as though it were broad daylight In addition, Ainz had personal experience of the fact that summoned monsters and their summoners were linked by a mental bond Since he had defeated so many undead on the way here, they h their bond
In fact, there were already several people looking at Ainz and Narberal
Given that they had not launched an attack yet, theycome to that conclusion, Ainz decided to approach theical lights, the suspicious group of people took a stance, and one of them said to the man in the center, “Khazit-saht, idiot confir it First, let’s listen to what they have to say
“Ah… what a lovely night Don’t you think it’s wasted on a boring old ritual?”
“Hht for a ritual Come to think of it, who are you, anyway? How did you break through that horde of undead?”
Thein the center of the circle — his name was Khazit, unless that was an alias, and he was probably the highest ranked of all the people present — asked Ainz that question on behalf of the others
“I’ youngabout, even if I don’t state his naroup took a stance, which confirmed in Ainz’s heart that they were not innocents who had been dragged into the matter
Under his hel around the surroundings
“Just the two of you? Where’s the rest of your party?”
Oi oi, what kind of question is that? Orin a his mouth Based on that, I can be sure he’s just a pawn
Ainz tiredly shrugged as he replied:
“Yup, just the two of us We flew over here with a flight spell”
“You’re lying, that’s impossible”
Ainz sensed that there was so behind that curt retort Thus he asked:
“You don’t have to believe it, but let’s get back to the main topic If you let the boy return home safely, I can spare your life How about it, Khazit?”
Khazit glared at the foolish disciple who had blurted out his name
“—And you are?”
“Before that, there’s so I’d like to ask Is there anyone over there besides you lot?”
Khazit looked coldly at Ainz:
“We’re the only ones—”
“—Surely it’s not just you? There should be so to a because you’re afraid?”
“Fufu~ You checked their bodies~ Not bad~”
Suddenly, a fe woht, and every step she took was accoainst metal
“You…”
“Ahhh~ they foundof which~ I only hid because I can’t use the 「Conceal Life」 spell~”
The woered Khazit
That reply aside, they still haven’t trotted out Nfirea as a hostage Perhaps Nfirea’s already dead…
Just as Ainz was thinking along those lines, the woman asked:
“May I know your name? Ah, I’m Clementine Pleased to meetcha~”
“…Well, it’s kind of pointless to answer your question, but I guess I’ll tell you anyway My name is Momon”
“I’ve never heard that name before… how about you?”
“I haven’t heard of it h ranked adventurers in the city, so how is it I’ve never heard of a Mo e pointed to the sewers—”
“The answer is under your cloak Show me”
“Uwah~ Pervert~ Lewd~”
As she said that, the girl’s — Clerin so wide it nearly reached her ears
“Ju~st kidding~ you mean these?”
Cle what looked like scale mail whose individual plates had mismatched components However, Ainz’s excellent vision saw the truth immediately Those were not the metal plates which made up scale mail
They were countless adventurer plates Platinuold, silver, iron, copper, even mithril and orichalcum All these were the proof of all the adventurers Cle, the trophies taken froroans see
“It was these prizes of yours which led me to you”
A look of confusion came over Clementine, and Ainz did not intend to explain himself
“…Nabe Deal with Khazit and the other men I’ll take care of this woman”
With that, he quietly warned Nabe to watch out above
“Understood”
Khazit’s expression was sorin The cold-eyed Narberal, on the other hand, showed nothing on her face
“…Clementine, let’s kill each other over there”
Ainz i for Clementine to respond He was very confident that she would not reject the challenge, and the sound of her lazy footsteps behind hiotten soe of lightning erupted between Narberal and Khazit As though on cue, Ainz and Clementine turned to look at each other
“Could it be those people I killed in that store were your friends? Are you mad because I killed your buddies~?”
Cle tone:
“Ufufufu, that ic caster was soooo funny Until the end he believed that soainst my attacks with just that little bit of health… Or could it be he was hoping you would save him? Sor~ry, I killed him”
Clementine was all smiles Ainz looked at her, and shook his head
“…No, there’s no need to apologize”
“Really? Well that’s a shaet all eetting mad? You’re no fun! Or could it be they weren’t your friends?”
“…Well, under the right circu you for it would be hypocritical”
Ainz slowly raised his greatswords: