Maruyama Kugane - The Invaders of the Large Tomb

The figure who had absorbed the impact with a mere flexing of its knees smiled brightly.

Before them stood a young dark elf boy.

The long ears which emerged from amongst the golden strands of his hair twitched slightly, giving rise to a glorious impression like that of the sun.

He was fully dressed in a suit of tight-fitting, light leather armour, made from jet black and deep crimson dragon scales, over which he wore a white vest embroidered with golden threads. A coat of arms was sewn onto the breast of the jacket.

Seeing his heterochromic eyes, Imina let out a gasp of surprise.

“—Ah!”

“—The challengers have arrived!”

The boy spoke into the rod-like object he was holding in his hand, and his amplified words resounded throughout the arena.

The arena trembled and shuddered in time with the boy’s bright and cheerful voice.

Looking around, it seemed that the golems which had remained motionless so far were stomping on the ground to make noise.

“The challengers are four reckless fools who have invaded the Great Tomb of Nazarick! And, facing them is the master of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, the Supreme King of Death, Ainz! Ooal! Gown-sama!”

The portcullis on the opposite side of the arena rose upwards at the same time as the dark elf’s voice rang out. From the darkness of the path beyond, a being stepped into the light. In a word, it would be skeletal.

A crimson radiance flickered within the eye sockets of the white skull.

It was dressed in a gown-like vestment, and because there were no muscles where the robe was cinched about the waist, it appeared too skinny for belief. Judging by the lack of weapons on hand, it was probably a magic caster of some kind.

“Ooh! And walking in behind him is our Guardian Overseer, Albedo!”

The members of Foresight held their breath as they saw the woman who followed behind like a servant.

She was a peerless vision that surpassed even the ‘Beautiful Princess’ of Darkness. Hers was a comeliness that could never be reached by human beings, and two horns curved out gently from both sides of her forehead. At her waist were a pair of black wings. They looked so realistic it could not possibly have been artificially created.

The arena quaked with stomping, as if to welcome the debut of these two new entrants, before turning into thunderous applause. It was a reception befitting the arrival of a king.

The two people approached ‘Foresight’ amidst the thunderous applause from the surrounding golems.

“—I’m so sorry,” Arche muttered. “We ended up like this because of me.”

What would follow was probably going to be the most grueling battle Foresight would ever have faced. In all likelihood, one or more of them might die. Arche probably felt that they had been plunged into such a dire circumstance was because of herself. Without her debt, perhaps they might not have accepted this task to go investigate a tomb they so obviously did not know enough about.

But then—

“Hey, hey, what nonsense is this kid babbling?”

“Yes. Taking on this work was a group decision. This isn’t your fault. Don’t you think we’d still have taken it even without your personal problem?”

“That’s how it is, so there’s no need to be worried.”

Hekkeran and Roberdyck smiled as they spoke, and Imina patted Arche’s head.

“Well then, although planning is hopeless at this stage, we should still have a discussion. Arche, can you identify that undead?”

“—Seeing that it seems intelligent, perhaps it’s an upper-class skeleton-type?”

The skeleton in question, Ainz, waved his hand before them. The movement looked as if he was wiping something.

The sounds disappeared. In an instant, the golems’ movements stopped, and once more they were subjected to the almost deafening silence. Hekkeran bowed sincerely to Ainz, who was slowly turning to face them.

“Firstly I would like to apologise, Ainz Ooal…dono.”

“…Ainz Ooal Gown.”

“My apologies. Ainz Ooal Gown-dono.”

Ainz stopped and raised his chin, as if he were waiting for an inferior to continue.

“We wish to apologize for entering your tomb without permission. If you can find it in your heart to forgive us, we will gladly offer the appropriate compensation to atone for our transgressions."

Time passed in silence. Then Ainz sighed. Of course, as one of the undead, Ainz had no need to breathe. But he did so in order to get his message across.

“Is that how you do things where you come from? After someone else eats in your home and leaves waste behind which sprouts maggots, would you actually show him more mercy than a swift death?”

“Humans are not maggots!”

“They are the same. At least, they are to me. Or, not—perhaps humans are even lower than them. If a maggot is born, the fault lies with the fly. You, however, are different. You were not forced along, nor did you have any particularly compelling reason to come here, but purely for the sake of greed, you attacked a tomb which might have had people living in it, with the intention of plundering its treasures!”

Ainz’s laughter echoed through the coliseum.

“Ah, do not take it to heart. I am not blaming you. It is only natural for the strong to dominate the weak. I have done it myself and I do not consider myself an exception from this rule. It was precisely because there might be someone stronger than me that I was on guard… Now then, the time for idle banter is over. In accordance with the principle of the strong feeding upon the weak, I shall claim one thing from you.”

“No, actually, there’s a—”

“Silence!” Ainz declared in a voice which allowed no interruption. “Do not upset me with your lies!

Now then, you shall pay for your foolish mistake with your life.”

“What if we had permission?”

Ainz froze. Apparently, that had gotten through to him.

Hekkeran was surprised that a single sentence could have had such a great effect, but of course he did not let it show on his face. Just when all seemed lost, a ray of hope had shone through the darkness. Clearly, he had to seize it.

“…Nonsense.”

It was a still, small voice, almost on the verge of fading away.

“Utter nonsense, it’s nothing but a bluff. What do you gain from angering me?”

His unease was spreading, and even the dark elf boy beside him was starting to look uncomfortable.

When he turned to look at the last person, goosebumps broke out all over Hekkeran’s body.

The beauty behind them was still smiling. But she radiated a murderous intent that beaded Hekkeran’s brow with sweat.

“And what if it was true?”

“…No… no… it’s impossible. Absolutely impossible. You should all be offerings dancing in the palm of my hand…”

Ainz shook his head and fixed Hekkeran with a gaze that seemed to bore right through him.

“But… however… I… yes, that’s right, just in case, I will hear you out… who gave you this permission?”

“Don’t you know him?”

“Him…?”

“He didn’t leave his name, but he was a pretty big monster.”

Hekkeran desperately thought on where the safety lines to evade danger were hiding.

It was a question that only a person paralyzed by indecision would ask, because only by asking could a person know what was true or false.

It was a purely human attitude, Hekkeran thought. It wasn’t the reaction of a monster, but of a coward. This was a good chance.

“Tell me what you saw.”

“…He was very very very big…”

“Very very…”

As Ainz descended into another round of introspection, Hekkeran reflected that they had avoided danger yet again, and breathed an internal sigh of relief. He gestured to his colleagues with small movements of his fingers, telling them to find an exit. Ainz would not act without confirming the truth or falsehood of Hekkeran’s words. This was all the time they had to think of how to get out of here.