Maruyama Kugane - The Invaders of the Large Tomb

“Hey, Albedo. If you talk to Ainz-sama like that—”

“—No, Aura. That is a good point.”

Ainz shook his head.

“And that is enough. I have gained sufficient experience from this battle.”

“Truly marvelous. As expected of the Overlord who rules me.”

“Hah, is it now. Well, this is certainly cause for celebration. Although I know you’re humoring me, praise from a warrior whose skills far exceed my own is still pleasing to me.”

“I would not dream of deceiving you with false praise. I meant every word of it.”

“Is that so? Then thank you. Cocytus can evaluate me later, and I still need to hear your opinions on future training sessions like this.”

After nodding a few times and looking very satisfied with himself, Ainz turned back to ‘Foresight’.

The air between them had changed, and Hekkeran had a bad feeling about it.

His instincts that had carried him through many life-and-death situations were screaming to him: there is great danger here .

“Then, playing around with swords is over. Now is the time for a different kind of amusement.”

Ainz cast aside the sword and shield he was holding, and they vanished before they hit the ground.

“What?!”

Discarding one’s arms was the universal sign of giving up the fight. However, Ainz’s attitude did not betray even the slightest hint of capitulation.

This was not a gesture of surrender.

Unable to figure out what Ainz was thinking, Hekkeran was filled with confusion.

“…What are you going to do?”

At this, Ainz smiled. Or rather, he seemed to smile.

He slowly spread his arms. It was an action that resembled an angel reaching out to the faithful, or a mother welcoming her child into her embrace; a loving acceptance of what lay before him.

“You don’t get it? Then let me put it in terms you might be able to understand,” Ainz laughed. “I’ll play with you, so give me your best shot, humans.”

The mood had changed—

He had forsaken his weapon and his shield. That should have meant he had been weakened. But Hekkeran had the feeling that the Ainz before him now was more powerful than before. Indeed, it seemed as though his body had physically grown in size before their eyes, so oppressive was his presence.

A being that grew stronger when abandoning the sword.

When you thought about it, only two answers remained. One would be that he was one of those warrior monks who honed their bodies into living weapons. But if that were the case, his fighting style from earlier—the way he evaded attacks—didn’t seem polished enough for him to be one of their number.

Then, the alternative—

“He’s a magic caster?”

The voice belonged to Arche, who had reached the same conclusion Hekkeran had.

That was it. This was the question at hand. The being before them, Ainz Ooal Gown—was he a magic caster?

It was understandable that they had not considered that earlier. Who could have imagined that any magic caster could have fought on even terms with Hekkeran, the party’s strongest and most skilled fighter?

Magic casters—especially arcane magic casters—had weaker bodies than warriors. After all, if one had time to train one’s body, one could easily spend that time on learning magic. As such, magic casters who could fight on par with warriors were nonexistent.

That was simple common sense.

A being who could turn that wisdom on its head—who could have imagined such a being would be standing in front of them?

As such, Arche’s voice carried the hope that it was untrue, and the desire that her hypothesis would be rejected. Because if it were true, that would mean that Ainz was far more confident in his skills as a magic caster than he was as a warrior.

What that meant, nobody needed to say out loud.

Even casting a few spells could greatly improve battle performance. As Hekkeran had been demonstrating, several enhancement spells made a dramatic difference. But if that was the case—

“Did you finally realize it? How foolish you lot are. Well, it’s only natural to expect this level of intelligence from you miserable vermin, who track your filth into my—no, our Nazarick.”

However, as long as Arche was around, Hekkeran and the others could deny it.

“Arche! Is this guy a magic caster?!”

“No! I’m sure of it! At least, he’s not an arcane magic caster!”

“Hm? And what is that supposed to mean?”

“—I can’t sense any magical power from your body.”

“Ahhh. So, you use detection spells, then. How rude.”

Ainz showed Hekkeran and the others his hands. As one might expect of an undead, there was nothing of them but bones. He spread his fingers to show that each of them, on both hands, was wearing a ring.

“Once I remove this ring, you will understand. I also lent it to my subordinates.”

Saying that, Ainz removed a ring on his right hand. And then—

“Uuuuoooggh!”

It was the sound of vomiting. Sticky fluid spilled onto the floor of the arena, and a sour, rancid stench wafted up around ‘Foresight’.

“What did you do?!”

Imina glared at Ainz, from where she had rushed over to assist Arche. Ainz seemed a little uncomfortable, but still answered in a displeased tone.

“What do you mean, what did I do to that girl? There’s a limit to how rude you can be, throwing up when you see someone’s face.”

“—E-everyone, run!”

Arche was shouting, and tears were leaking from the corner of her eyes.

“This guy is a mon—uuuurrrrrggghhh!”

Unable to endure it, Arche threw up again. In that moment, Hekkeran understood why she had vomited.

Ainz had done nothing to her. Rather, she had been unable to withstand the combination of terror and stress caused by seeing the enormous magical power surrounding Ainz, and so she had thrown up.

And that meant—

“—We can’t beat him! His strength is on a totally different level! Even the word monster can’t describe him!”

Arche began wailing as the tears rolled down her cheeks.

“No way no way no way—”

Imina tightly hugged Arche to her chest. The girl was violently shaking her head as though she had gone mad.

“Calm down! Roberdyck!”

“Got it! 「Lion’s Heart」!”

Under the influence of Roberdyck’s magic, Arche managed to recover from the panic which had gripped her. Like a newborn deer, she rose unsteadily on shaky legs, using her staff as a crutch.

“—Everyone, we have to flee now! That’s not a being humans can beat! It’s an unbelievable monster!”

“Understood, Arche!”

“Yeah, I get it. When he removed the ring, the entire world seemed to change. I felt it raise goosebumps all over me.”

“Yes. Powerful wouldn’t nearly be enough to describe this monster.”

The alertness level of the three of them had gone through the roof. The stared at Ainz with nerves wound even tighter than before. Theirs was an expression that understood that even an instant’s loss of watchfulness would spell their deaths.

“It looks like they won’t let us run.”

“The moment we show them our backs, we die. Although I have the feeling that just averting our eyes would be enough.”

“We need to buy time or we won’t make it.”

“…Not coming?”

Of course, Hekkeran wouldn’t be baited by Ainz, who was lazily scratching his skull with one long finger. The enemy’s fighting power vastly exceeded that of any being which had ever existed. That meant they could only count on one thing.

When Ainz began casting a spell—a magic caster was most vulnerable when reciting an incantation.

If he used a silent spell, then the game was up, but even so, that was a tiny possibility which existed for them.