CHAPTER X: REDEMPTION

My mind is still troubled and confused when, as Cocytus and I enter his domain, someone seizes my neck and lifts me violently off the ground. I gasp from sudden surprise and sudden pain as I'm pulled in front of my assailant, the physical pain of their grip adding to my confusion.

"Roeray!?...how did you-" I start to say but the words die in my throat when I see the cruel smile on her face. None of the warmth or familiarity from before is in that smile and I notice her other hand lift the Amulet of Unchanging around her neck. A brief flash of green light pulses from it and travels through her body, long hair changing from a plain brown to a dirty blonde. I watch in horror as dull brown scales cover one half of her body, further emphasizing the depths of betrayal and subterfuge.

Cocytus is suddenly there, his weapons in his hands and swinging at her left arm to dislodge it from my throat. She sweeps out with her right arm, casually knocking him away with a loud smack of breaking chitin. I scream his name as he's sent flying into an ice wall, ice crumbling under his weight and momentum. His chitinous chest plating cracks and leaks gore and shards of his broken shell as he falls to the ground. In our wounded state, we're easier to defeat but fear still takes hold of me at seeing him so easily bested. I turn back to my assailant, gazing into her mismatching eyes that mirrored my own.

"I don't need him dead," Isnadra states in a cold, calculated tone that hinted at morbid curiosity. I try to struggle free but her strength is that of an adult to a child, her body perfectly still as I punch and kick at her to no avail. My left arm becomes a blade that I frantically thrust and slash at her but before each impact, her skins shift and hardens, easily deflecting each blow with minimal effort. She says with cold certainty as I continue to struggle, "You've recovered fragments of my being as you're meant to and showed me a new way to reabsorb my power. All that's left is to absorb the parts that you possess."

She begins to chant in a familiar dark tongue, the words calling magic that I remember Shalltear using on me in my nightmares. In a panic, my hands grab her left arm in an attempt to channel some of the magic away from me but her scales shift again, repelling the magic back into me. My body begins to sting and glow, crimson light painting the icy surroundings as if visualizing my pain. Senses dull and strength fades even as I keep trying to dislodge myself, my strikes becoming less powerful and missing her completely with each passing moment. The strength eventually leaves me completely, my arms falling to my sides as the pain becomes all that I can feel.

She lets go of me suddenly and turns away, my body falling limply to the ground as the pain rapidly recedes. I gasp in agony from being able to feel but quickly force myself to a stand to see what's happening. I hear her say to someone, "Momongo. I anticipated that you would interfere but you won't stop me. I'm the stronger one now."

"You aren't yourself, Izy. This isn't like you," I hear Lord Ainz reply, his voice almost pleading to her. At that moment, my hands go to my head as I scream in agony, memories that aren't my own forcing themselves to the front of my mind at this unwarranted trigger. Pain and betrayal paint the images but none of the memories are coherent enough to understand.

"Maximize magic! Inferno!" I hear Lord Ainz shout, my blurred vision not hiding the swirling tornado of fire expanding towards Isnadra. I shut my eyes to shield them from the brightness, focusing on the physical to force out the mental assault. The soreness of my wounds, the soreness of my throat, the cold of the ground beneath me, and a host of other sensations slowly drive out the outside images, giving me enough coherence to regain bodily control.

I snap open my eyes to see the inferno dissipate, the ground liquefying and evaporating into a fine mist from the intense heat. Isnadra is standing in the same position unharmed, the ground beneath her feet unblemished by the fire. A dark smile creeps onto her face as she says coldly, "You haven't changed. You're still baiting people with talk just to attack when their guard is down."

I hear the clash of weapons before I see it, Isnadra locking her left arm blade against Lord Ainz's staff in an attempt to force it away. Lord Ainz holds his own, both of them locked in confrontation and unwilling to back down until Isnadra twirls her body over his head using her arm as an axis. She tries to break his guard from a different angle but Lord Ainz holds his guard nonetheless, sliding her to the right with a swift push of his staff.

Mesmerized by the titanic conflict taking place, I jump in surprise when someone picks me up off the ground and gathers me in their arms. I look up to see a heavily wounded Cocytus turning away from the combat and opening a gate to escape, saying to me in a pained voice, "This is...Lord Ainz's...fight...we must...get you to...safety..."

"No," Isnadra states from nearby but I can't see her from where I am. I try to look over Cocytus' shoulder but can barely move, my wounds from earlier still slowing me down despite the healing. Instead, I hold onto Cocytus for dear life as he uses what little strength he has to escape for both of us.

Chitin sunders and dark blood sprays, the viscera splashing onto me as unbridled fear dumps into my mind. A bladed limb has punched through his body from behind effortlessly and I see him cough dark blood from his mandibles. Even with so much damage to his body and a blade through his torso, he continues to move forward with laboured steps. He struggles against Isnadras strength as she tries to pull him back until she says with cold certainty, "I was wrong. You have to die."

"Run!" I hear Cocytus shout as he tosses me towards the portal, my body sent tumbling along the icy ground until I come to rest near the gate. I turn back to see Isnadra rip the blade out of his chest, a large hole in his body as he falls forward with a hard crash of chitin. I scream in denial as Isnadra shows no mercy, punching her blade down into his head to puncture chitin and brain tissue before ripping it free in a shower of gore. Seeing Cocytus slain so brutally freezes me in place with despair, a flood of denial and anguish threatening to overwhelm me.

Isnadra extends a hand towards the gate which closes with a boom of magical discharge, her body already springing towards me with one arm extended to grasp. Lord Ainz appears out of nowhere, imposing himself between me and her while shouting another spell. Blades of light appear around us, swirling rapidly in a circular are before turning towards Isnadra and storming towards her.

She doesn't slow at all, her skin shifting and deflecting the blades of light without effort. I hear the sound of metal on metal as the two supreme beings lock in melee combat again, Isnadra striking rapidly at Lord Ainz but Lord Ainz deflecting her blows with his staff. He commands me to run but in my shocked state, I foolishly watch the battle and remain horrified at what's happening.

Isnadra lands a hard kick on Lord Ainz's head, the crack of bone audible over the clash of metal. Lord Ainz returns the blow with a hard blow to her stomach, both supreme beings reeling from the impacts. With maniacal laughter lacking all humour, Isnadra states groggily, "I see. You aren't as helpless as I thought."

"Izy. I can't let you go on like this. I'm sorry," he says reluctantly, his arms extending casually to his sides as he prepares his next move. Her reply is to laugh at his antics and retort, "You would destroy this place to defeat me? That spell will kill the one you're protecting."

"Yes, but they can be revived. You will not be so lucky," he says coldly, Isnadra storming forward as Lord Ainz calls upon his magic. Lord Ainz, however, stops casting midway through his spell and drops his arms, extending a single hand forward and calling upon a different spell entirely. A lance of dark light bursts forward, catching Isnadra off guard and forcing her to dodge the attack by rolling to the right. Lord Ainz follows her with the beam of darkness but Isnadra finds her bearings and shifts her skin to deflect the magic. As she stands still and allows the rays of darkness to spray off her, she comments with arrogance, "This is pointless, Momongo. I'll win as soon as you run out of mana to cast spells. You must know this."

"I also know that your adaptive scales require mana to use. We'll both be without mana," he retorts as he pulls something from his magical inventory. A massive bow appears in his hands that he immediately draws and fires at Isnadra, Isnadra rolling out of the way but not quickly enough to avoid a glancing blow from the enormous arrow of light. Isnadra rises from her roll missing her left arm, a cauterized stump where the arm had once been. To my horror, green magic flows from the stump of her arm and reforms back into the missing limb.

"If that's how you want to play it..." Isnadra hisses, her hand reaching into a crimson box of her own and pulling out a two-handed pole-arm that's twice her size. Lord Ainz seems taken aback by the appearance of this weapon, his voice mirroring his surprise as he states, "Guan Yu's Crescent Blade. I don't remember you investing in Yggdrasil."

She charges forward and thrusts the weapon at Lord Ainz repeatedly, each strike multiplying into more strikes and each spin of the weapon projecting a wave of force towards its target. Lord Ainz struggles to keep the heavy blade from making contact with him but even with his skill, the blade slices his robes and skeletal body with glancing blows.

Call upon us.

The voices are loud and intrusive, a multitude of growls and demands echoing painfully in my head without warning. I shut my eyes, not sure who the voices are but compelled to listen out of desperation. Images and language flow and dance behind my eyelids, forming coherent patterns instructing me what to do. At first, I think it's some kind of trick, another mental assault meant to misguide me but as I ponder the task, I see the sense of what I'm being told and reluctantly agree to proceed.

With the two supreme beings fighting heavily nearby, I form my left fingers into sharpened edges that I plunge into the flesh of my chest. With painful movements, I scrawl the first of the ancient symbol I was told into my chest, the feeling of blood flowing from my chest and onto my fingertips. A pulse of power projects from the symbol once it's complete and I sense a shift in the tension of the room, looking up to see both supreme beings turn towards me. Isnadra tries to storm past to get to me but Lord Ainz imposes himself in her path, holding her attention while I work.

The battle slowly creeps towards me as Lord Ainz loses ground, my fingers deftly scrawling the second symbol. Another pulse of power harmonizes with the pulse from the first symbol and the patterns on my body glow faintly with golden light. Magic summoned forth by the symbols courses through my body followed by burning pain from having too much power within my flesh. Isnadra tells me to stop what I'm doing but I ignore her and the pain, intent of finishing the task and carving the last symbol into my flesh.

I hear her roar in anger, the first raw emotion she has shown since this conflict started. Lord Ainz is swatted aside with a heavy sweep of her weapon, the blow delivered with strength amplified by raw emotions and desperation. She tries to halt what I'm doing magically as she charges at me, casting spells to cripple or disable the magic. Each spell she casts is deflected off my body, greater magic of other entities shielding me from interference. She almost reaches me when I finish the last symbol on my chest, the symbols pulsing in unison and waiting for activation.

"Yamato!" I scream as I extend my arms outwards, the symbols exploding with radiance as they awaken at my call. A pressure wave expands outwards from my body, hurling Isnadra and Lord Ainz clear across the room. They both tumble along the ground and coming to rest nearby as I'm lifted upwards magically, golden light flowing in rapid streams from my chest. My entire body burns from the magical build-up but I keep my arms extended and grit my teeth against the pain. All around me is noise and light, the bright light slowly forming into solid shapes that intimidate me with their presence.

The birthing roars of eight creatures echo in the room for a moment, an ancient being unmeant for this world summoned to this plane. I look around me slowly, seeing eight heads swirling around me passively. Each head pulses with power and projects their element of choice from roaring fire to solid stones. Yet each head is unified by species, all of them displaying the same set of horns, snout, and mane. They hiss and growl down at the two supreme beings staring up at us, my gaze moving downwards slowly to see both of them cautiously looking upwards.

"This isn't happening! No one has been foolish enough to summon Yamato! Not even in Yggdrasil!" Isnadra shouts up defiantly at the dragon around me, her cold, calculating facade replaced with one of fear and desperation. Lord Ainz seems as disturbed by the development as she is, his staff returning to his hands as he faces us instead of Isnadra. Their titanic battle is forgotten in the face of a greater threat and it made me uneasy to think that I'm the one who brought it into being.

All of the heads turn to me in unison, closing their fanged mouths and growling lightly as if waiting for instructions. Words project into my head gently, asking what I wish of them in eight different voices. I look down at the two supreme beings staring up at us then look over at the still form of Cocytus, laying in a puddle of their blood.

I consider asking the dragons to kill Isnadra, finally achieving revenge for everything she has done to me. I consider asking the dragons to kill both of them, finally taking revenge for all the pain and misery I had been subjected to while in Nazarick. I even consider asking the dragon to destroy everything in Nazarick, finally removing the disease that's slowly corrupting the New World and giving it a chance to start again.

I choose none of these options.

"Help them..." I ask the dragons in a whisper, the dragons asking in my mind if that's truly what I wish. I nod slowly and reluctantly, confirming my wishes to them with calm resignation. I'm expecting pain and am not disappointed, fresh agony lancing through my body as the Yamato fulfils my wishes by using my body as a catalyst. I roar in agony, screwing my eyes shut from the pain as the eight dragons roar in unison. Even among the pain, I can sense the powerful build-up of magic around me, so powerful that it almost blocks out the pain with its presence.

I force my eyes open to bear witness to what I asked for, one of the heads shifting forward and opening its mouth. The head with a regal mane of white opens its mouth and projects a beam of white light from its maw, impacting Lord Ainz and Isnadra before they can move or defend. The beam sweeps over to Cocytus' corpse then back to the two beings before ceasing, the dragon closing its mouth and growling to itself contently.

All of the dragons growl in contentment and start to fade away, leaving me floating in the air until the magic suspending me fails. My entire body hurts inside and out as I fall headfirst towards the ground from whatever height I'm at, all of my energy spent from the summoning and making me powerless to stop the coming impact. I start to wonder if what I asked for was the right thing to do or if I was being manipulated again, closing my eyes as I prepare for more pain.

My fall is halted suddenly and I slowly open my eyes, my vision blurry from exhaustion and pain but making out enough details to know who it is. Words are spoken to me in a familiar grating tone but I can barely hear them over the buzzing in my ears. I reach out with my left hand gently, placing it against hard, unblemished chitin no longer marred by the earlier carnage. I try to speak but find my tongue numb along with the rest of my body, my hand falling away from his shell as bone-deep exhaustion relaxes my muscles.

"Why did you do that?" I hear over the buzzing in my ears, my head turning very slowly to the right to see Isnadra standing nearby. I'm expecting hatred from her but all I see is pity and sadness, light tears forming in her eyes. I manage a partial smile, saying in a weak voice, "You made...me...promise...not to...let you...go back..."

"All of the power is gone...and what's left is fragments...I doubt he will survive much longer..." Lord Ainz interjects as he approaches slowly and stands next to Isnadra, his hands at his sides as he gazes down at me. My heart starts to beat erratically at the mention of my survival, the pain slowly rising to the surface that I resist as much as I can. I look over at Isnadra, saying with as much seriousness as I can muster, "Take...what's left...of me...before I...fade..."

"I...I can't...not like this...this is...I just can't..." she replies with as her tears start to flow. I try to reach towards her and she meets me halfway, my right hand holding onto her scaled left. Both of us are trembling from two kinds of pain but I'm so accustomed to the pain that it doesn't frighten me as it once did.

Another hand enters the grouping, this one glowing with white light. I look up to see one of the ghosts that used to haunt me but now, their presence granted me great relief. Though not entirely real, I feel their fingers grasp our two hands, the spectre saying in an ethereal voice, "I'm right here, kiddo...I'm sorry I wasn't around when you needed me most..."

"Dad..." I whisper sadly, words barely representing the shame I feel for what I've done to him. Even with all he had done to me and others, I couldn't bring myself to hate either of them. I close my eyes as their focus becomes lost completely, my voice whispering weakly, "You were right...I was the answer...and the gift you gave me freed us...at last..."

"It's not over yet, kiddo. Life's one challenge after another and this is just the beginning. We'll see each other in time," he reassures me while tightly clenching my hand, his hand releasing mine as he returns to where he needs to be. My breathing starts to hurt but I'm still able to chuckle lightly when I hear Lord Ainz start chanting the words that needed to be spoken. The pain blessedly fades as my strength fades with it, my face smiling weakly as I offer what little I can say.

"I...did it...I'm not...the monster...I feared..."