Maruyama Kugane: The Invaders of the Large Tomb

“My god is always by my side!”

“That is to say, you’ve never actually seen him directly, then?”

“No! When we use our spells, we feel the presence of a mighty being. That is our god!”

“…And who declared that that presence to be a god? The god himself? Or someone using another kind of power?”

Roberdyck recalled the theological debates he had taken part in. There was no clear answer to Ainz’s questions. Until today, the priests still debated hotly over whether that was the proof of God’s existence.

Just as Roberdyck was about to speak, Ainz interrupted him.

“…Well, supposing these super-dimensional beings—which we shall generously term gods for our purposes—do exist, I wonder if that means they are originally colorless entities. Simply put, they are chunks of power. Because drawing on their power dyes them in a different color and changes the thing… well, they do exist in a world with magical laws, I just wanted someone to chat with someone about this. It wouldn’t be funny if there really were gods.”

“…”

“My apologies. That was off-topic. The power of the god you believe in. I think we won’t be able to learn it… so do you want to take part in a human experiment?”

“…human experiment?”

“That’s right. For instance, when we alter your memories so the god you believe in is someone else, what will happen after that?”

He’s insane . That was Roberdyck’s deepest and most honest thought about the situation.

No, he’s an undead. It wouldn’t be strange no matter what he did.

Ainz took a step back, looking with deep interest at Roberdyck. That look was the way a scholar would examine a laboratory animal, and it made Roberdyck want to throw up.

“Why, why do you want to do that?”

“To prove that god exists… eh, I’m not going to bother going on with that joke. Truthfully, I want to become stronger by understanding the nature of that power. And if those beings you call gods really exist, I want to know if they have emotions or thoughts. I want to confirm that. As for me, I have never thought of myself as a chosen being. In truth, there are many others like that.”

Roberdyck had no idea what Ainz was talking about.

“Therefore, expanding military preparations is essential. Of course, it may be that no enemies exist, or if they do exist, none of them are as strong as we are. However, don’t you think that the leader of an organization shouldn’t be negligent? After all, if we rest on our laurels, we’re likely to have our feet cut out from under us when we least expect it. Confirming the existence of gods is part of that. “

Ainz shrugged as he finished.

Part 2

Arche panted heavily.

Every time the grass swayed from the wind, her whole body would tremble. Like a small animal, she fearfully looked in every direction.

The surroundings were a forest, and there were many places without light. The spreading canopies of the nearby trees blocked out the light from the sky, and there was almost none on the surface.

Although this environment would normally be difficult for a human being to navigate, in lieu of illumination, Arche used the ‘Darkvision’ spell, which made her surroundings seem as bright as day.

However, even with this spell, she still needed a lot of concentration to pick out grass patches which people could be hiding in, tree trunks that might conceal enemies behind them, and listen to the branches creaking as they swayed in the wind.

As an arcane magic caster, if Arche were confronted by a monster which attacked her, she could not get rid of it by herself. Normally, she would have her colleagues to help her, but the ones who would help her, who would provide cover for her, or heal her, were all absent.

Which meant that all she could do was watch out for signs that an enemy was approaching, keep her distance, and flee. She was on edge because she was keenly aware of this fact, and it sapped her mental strength even more than normal.

Her original plan was to make it to the outside, which meant she would escape with a ‘Flight’ spell.

But once she flew above the trees, she saw a gigantic flying creature in the sky which seemed to be searching for something, so she abandoned that plan.

After she confirmed the presence of the giant bat, she could not find it in herself to try and turn it into a contest of speed. That was because even though ‘Invisibility’ could fool visual senses, it could not deceive the special sensory organs of a bat.

After confirming her surroundings were safe, Arche once more flew up at a snail’s pace.

She was proceeding as slowly as possible with her ‘Flight’ spell because she wanted to observe her surroundings. If she went at full speed, she would not be able to react quickly enough even if she were on alert and spotted a threat, and that would mean she would be leaping into the mouth of any monsters which pursued her. In order to avoid this, she deliberately lowered her speed.

Finally, Arche felt the layer of magic energy surrounding her growing thin. Her flight spell was about to run out.

She slowly descended to the ground.

The question now was what should she do. Casting ‘Flight’ again would not be a problem. She could feel that she had enough mana for it. However, ‘Darkvision’ was also a crucial spell, and she also had to reserve enough mana for defensive spells in case of combat.

The 3rd tier spell ‘Flight’ was one of the highest-ranked spells Arche knew how to use. Which also meant that it was one of the most draining spells she had. If possible, she wanted to avoid using it.

Ignoring the present circumstances, even she did not know how long it would take to get out of this forest without the use of spells that would stave off her fatigue. And without the ability to fly, she could not even confirm her current location.

On the way here, Arche had occasionally risen above the forest canopy and used the big tree beside the coliseum as a landmark. If she stayed in the forest, she could not spot the big tree, and she was not able to climb trees either.

“—Where can I rest…”

Arche mumbled to herself.

If she restored her mana through sleep, she could use ‘Flight’ more often, and movement under the sun would be safer. This was particularly true for the forest, where the monsters tended to come up at night.

It might be better for her to curl up somewhere and wait for day to break, rather than force herself to carry on in the dark forest.

But Arche had no idea where the safe places were.

If Imina were here, she would probably know. And if Roberdyck or Hekkeran were around, she could rest easily even in dangerous areas. However, her reliable companions were not with her.

“Imina, Roberdyck—”

Arche curled up beside a huge tree, and thought of her comrades.

“—Liars.”

There had been no word from them after so long.

As expected, they had not been able to escape.

No, that was something she had known from the beginning. There was no way they could beat the ridiculous entity known as Ainz. Even so, was she a fool for holding on to the faint hope of seeing them again?

Arche sat on the ground, leaned her back on the great tree, and closed her eyes. She knew it was dangerous, but she still wanted to close her eyes.

As the memory of the three of them came to mind, she squeezed her eyelids shut.

The icy-cool sensation of the wood against her head was very comfortable. It was only after she had rested for a while that she realized just how tired she had been. Her stress turned into emotional exhaustion, and it rose without stopping.

“—Haaaaa…”

She let her head rest against the tree.