Maruyama Kugane - The Invaders of the Large Tomb

And then she opened her eyes wide.

‘Darkvision’ painted the world of night in fresh, bright colors, but she had no explanation for what she saw in her field of vision.

Someone was watching Arche.

It was like nothing Arche had ever seen before, and her eyes seemed transfixed on the sight of the beautiful girl.

She was dressed in a velvet-soft ball gown dyed in the darkest shade of black, a garment that seemed thoroughly unsuited for her present environment. Her skin was as pale as wax. A single hand stroked her long, platinum hair, which seemed about to brush across Arche’s face.

Though she was a noble daughter, Arche had never seen a girl this beautiful before. If she were to show up at a formal dance, men would flock to her like moths to a flame, purely on the virtue of her beauty. Her crimson pupils radiated an irresistible charm that seemed to draw Arche’s soul into them.

But Arche immediately returned to her senses. There was no way someone like that would be in a place like this. Especially not someone with both feet on the tree trunk, standing parallel to the ground in utter defiance of gravity.

It was obvious that this was a pursuer sent by Ainz. Still, it was not completely impossible that she might have been a resident in the forest for a long time.

“Tag. You’re it.”

Her fleeting hopes had been utterly dashed.

“—A pursuer.”

Arche leapt away to open up a gap, targeting the girl with her staff. The girl seemed disinterested in Arche, and neatly walked down the tree trunk and onto the floor.

“It won’t be fun if you don’t run~”

“—if I defeat you here, I can flee more safely.”

Even as she said this, Arche smiled bitterly in her heart. There was no way she could beat any pursuer sent by Ainz, a being who existed outside the bounds of common sense.

Knowing this, the reason why she said so was to gauge the other party’s reaction.

“Then, by all means, although I can only play with you for a while.”

Her attitude said that she completely understood the difference in power between the two of them.

Which was to say, if she fought Arche, she would not be playing around at all.

“—「Flight」!”

Arche cast her spell and began to flee. There was none of the leisurely, slow flight she had demonstrated on the ground. In one swift movement she was aloft, covering her face with her arms as she broke through the forest canopy and soared into the air.

Under the night sky, Arche looked around once more. She was on guard for the bat-like monster she had seen earlier. However, it seemed that it was nowhere around. And so, all that was left was to escape.

“Yes, yes, keep it up, keep it up,”

The beautiful voice called out to Arche, who was desperate to flee. Her heart lurched. Casting desperate glances around, Arche tried to see where it was coming from.

It was from in front and above her.

When had she—the girl from just now was there.

“「Lightning Bolt」!”

Bluish-white lightning leapt from her staff’s head and cleaved through the night. This was Arche’s strongest attack spell. Even though it pierced the girl, the smile did not vanish from her face.

Arche was sure of it. This was a being on par with Ainz, which meant that there was no way Arche could defeat her. The girl cheerfully spoke to Arche, who was eager to flee.

“「Come, my familiars.」”

An enormous pair of wings extended from behind the girl’s back. They were like a bat’s in shape, but far, far larger. An enormous bat flew out from behind her, like it had detached from her body.

And of course, no bat with glowing crimson eyes like that could be a mere beast.

The girl smiled from beside the giant bat, whose wings beat steadily through the air. It was a smile that froze Arche’s body like ice, a smile that did not seem to belong on someone her age at all.

“Well then, do continue to flee~”

Arche fled.

She took flight with all her strength.

She flew into the forest to lose her pursuer, and the branches scratched her body as she fled.

Since she had discarded her companions to escape, that meant she had to make it out of here no matter what. In her mind, she would do anything to make that happen.

And after a flight of who knew how long, Arche was faced with despair.

It was a wall.

An invisible wall stood in front of her.

The world went on beyond it, but Arche’s body was blocked by that wall. Arche was now two hundred meters above ground level and the invisible wall had reached this high.

“—This is—”

Arche muttered to herself as despair seeped into her heart. She flew and felt around with her hands.

But… wall, wall, wall, still a wall.

No matter where she flew, her hands told her there was something hard in her way.

“What is this?!”

“A wall, of course.”

It was an answer to her self-directed mutterings. Arche turned around, with an idea of who she might see.

It was as she had expected. The girl from earlier. But now she had a trio of giant bats as her escorts.

“Though it seems you’ve gotten the wrong impression. This is the 6th floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. That is to say, you’re underground.”

“…This?”

Arche pointed to the world. The sky, the stars, the gently-blowing wind, the forest which stretched as far as the eye could see. Although she did not think this place could be under the earth, when it came to these people, even that might be a possibility.

“The 41 Supreme Beings, our most august creators, once ruled this place. It was created by them, and even we don’t understand all of it.”

“…They created a world? That would make them like gods…”

“That’s correct. To us, they are beings on the same level as gods. Gods with Ainz-sama as their leader.”

Arche looked around.

She had accepted it. No matter how you put it, after seeing so much, the only thing she could do was accept it.

There was no way she would be returning alive.

“Well then, not fleeing?”

“—Would it even be possible?”

“Of course not. There was never any intention to allow you to escape to begin with.”

“—Is that so?”

Arche gripped her staff tightly with both hands and charged the girl. She could no longer use spells since she was out of mana. However, even in this most hopeless of situations she still had to try her best until the very last moment. This was the duty of Arche, the sole surviving member of Foresight.

“There, there, you’ve done your best.”

The girl’s reply to Arche’s fully-determined charge was little more than bored dismissal.

“Then, your sad little escape attempt ends here... though it’s a shame I couldn’t see you cry.”

The girl easily caught the staff with one hand, and yanked it toward herself. Arche was thrown off balance and fell into the arms of the girl. The two of them ended up embracing in mid-air.

In this position, the girl buried her face into Arche’s neck. Although Arche tried to struggle, the girl who stuck to her like glue could not be shaken off. She breathed hotly on Arche’s neck, and Arche’s body quivered.

“…Mm, the smell of sweat…”

Not being able to keep one’s body clean was part and parcel of the worker’s life for Arche. This was true for all workers, adventurers, travellers, and anyone who spent time moving around outside.

Even if they got dirty, the appropriate response would be “So what?”

However, she still felt deeply ashamed at being told this by a girl who was younger and more beautiful than her.

The girl’s face left Arche’s neck. A feeling of revulsion swept up over Arche as she looked into those crimson eyes. Within those eyes burned a lust for the female body, stained with the same carnal desire that men possessed for women.