Chapter Two: First Conquest, Part Five

In all of Nazarick, there were a few creatures that, if let loose upon the world could bring the apocalypse just by themselves. One such being was Ainz Ooal Gown, who, with his ability to raise armies of the Undead, could topple nations in a matter of days – if he so desired, of course. If on the off chance he faced a foe powerful enough to defeat the legion of living dead and make their way to him he could still summon a powerful being that could turn the tide of battle, albeit at the cost of his experience points.

Another on the list of Armageddon bringers would be Demiurge, who, despite not being the strongest resident of Nazarick in the traditional sense beheld an intelligence, leadership and cunning that could make manipulating the world into its collapse a trifling matter. A man patient enough to construct a large domino piece puzzle only to put it in a place where the world is bound to – intentionally or otherwise – knock it over, all while he seemed the quiet observer.

But if asked who would be most capable of singlehandedly bringing the end of the world in the most traditional sense, which being would uncaringly, given a single order, bring calamity and darkness upon the mortal realm and leave nothing but rubble and ashes, most would point to Mare Bello Fiore.

And how was this living calamity spending his morning? All but wrapped up in his blanket; slow measured breaths, not loud enough to be considered a snore, escaping his mouth.

At first glance – or even if you decided to stare – he seemed like an innocent child that was simply more than willing to sleep in. You would not even have the strength of heart to wake him up. Of course, that was not to say that those that did, did not exist.

"MARE! WAKE UP!"

If Mobile Fortress Destroyer was a person and they had a weakness, that weakness would be his older sister.

A small hand tugged on his soft cheek leading him to cry out in the painful disappointment of a good dream interrupted just as it was getting better only for her to abandon him immediately after to go slay some beasts, leaving him with a very clingy child, that he was told he should not damage, which left him in an uncomfortable predicament.

Mica took Mare by the arm and essentially dragged him out of the underpass. While he was being towed, Mare spotted the tall Elf that they had encountered the previous day gently putting Momo-sama on the ground before turning his attention to Ainz-sama. Just as he was yanked yet again around the woods surrounding the cavern, much to the obvious consternation of their escorts at the discomfort of Mare, he saw what looked like a magical beast disappear into the shadows of the shady thicket.

At the back of the grotto was a section where a selection of weeping trees got an obvious yet artificial amount of light.

Mare paid attention to how this side of the forest seemed more alive simply because it was brighter. The woods truly had a dingy colour but the death that came with winter was non-existent. It was not until he got closer that he saw all the creatures that resided there. Some kind of bird had settled down on top of a tree and there was something else moving around the surface, another animal?

A sort of moat was formed from the lake that the cascade filled daily marking off the sacred grounds where the Dark Elf Druids performed their daily ritual. It was the second safest place in this portion of the woods.

It was said to be the best place for the druids to communicate with nature. It was here that the roots of the Eve tree started, so to truly protect their livelihoods, the trees came first. It was the reason why the Elder could also take his time to communicate with and maintain his grasp on his ability and with nature without leaving the cavern.

"I'm pretty sure most of these old men will be quite pleased to work with Mare-sama. I have never seen a staff that bears qualities like yours, it must be truly special. Is it a family heirloom?"

"Old men?"

"Ah, I say that but they simply talk like old men, most of them are not that much older than Camus, the oldest is probably like four hundred, so they are quite pretentious, aren't they?"

They walked over a small balancing beam that was made out of vines and a few pieces of wood that acted as a bridge between the two sides.

"Ano, M-Mica-san?"

"Yes, Mare-sama?" she asked in a playful almost disturbing tone.

"Do you like Asmodeus-sama?"

"Hm?" she tilted her head in quite the adorable fashion.

"Well, Momo-Ch- ... Asmodeus-sama doesn't usually like people like you, so I was just asking."

"People like me?"

"Brash and loud types ... b-but he loves Onee-chan, well I mean, she is an exception so..."

"Why are you asking me this?"

Mare flinched as soon as he heard them. He could not see who they were or what they were doing, but he felt like he should stay away for their safety.

"I see thou dost finally hath arrived. And thou bringeth a companion ..." the voice of the 'old men' slowly faded away from his keen senses.

He was about to start walking again when he felt someone behind him.

"Are you scared?" they asked, sounding as if they were laughing at their own bad joke.

Mare spun around and looked at the person. They wore a long black robe that fell to mid-calf with white gloves and a cloak draped over their shoulders, although there was no hood. The stranger smiled as they held up a hand, showing that they were unarmed.

They moved slowly, so slowly that they almost did not seem real. When they reached the clearing, they knelt down, hands on their knees and turned their head to look directly at Mare.

"You can sit." they said.

Mare glanced at them, not moving an inch. "Who are you?" he finally managed to ask, his voice trembling ever so slightly.

"I'm nobody." The stranger laughed.

"Then why are you here?" Mare continued to stare.

He knew they were not really there; he also could not help but think about the creature he had seen earlier.

"That is the reason why I am here, but you don't need to know about that right now. We'll talk about it later. Come here, sit."

Mare hesitated before walking closer, not fully trusting the stranger. He kept glancing back nervously but ultimately decided that he should just get used to seeing things he could not explain. He sat down on the grass, crossing his legs beneath himself.

The stranger started humming softly, then without warning, they jumped up and vanished. The grass where their body had been was left empty as if they had never even been there in the first place. The people who he had arrived with slowly became visible once more. The world appeared to be going back to normal, so he let out a breath he did not realise he had been holding.

He looked down at his hands, he was clenching his staff tightly. He pulled his gaze away from his hands and saw the four men who had given Mica a once over when they first arrived. Said four men had gone down on all fours when Mare returned from wherever that stranger had taken him.

"Do they always act like this?"

"If Mare-sama is referring to their speech, yes, if not then no. There is probably one or two other reasons why they would act like this though."

Before he could ask what she meant by those words, he heard a sound that could only be described as a mix of shrieking laughter and a shrilling cry.

If there are two or more ways to do something and one of those results in catastrophe, then someone is bound to do it that way. This situation described Camus perfectly, but for Camus to admit that he was solely at fault would be far too great an ask.

If one was to trace it back one could start at the isolationist lifestyle of the Dark Elves. This meant that if they did not learn to do everything for themselves, they would encounter problems; one of those problems being the inability to forge weapons resulting in subpar maintenance of their armour and equipment which was already decades old.

What of course did not help the problem was a leader's inability to communicate with outsiders who could potentially alleviate that hardship, so who was truly to blame for ...

"Ah! My blade!"

Murphy's Law.

Camus had struck a relatively weak spot in Momon's armour, though it was thick enough combined with the relative strength of his own strike that it ensured his blade succumbed to years of virtual neglect – there was no way this humans armour was that strong.

True, this blade is by no means the best we have in the tribe ... unless this Human? Is he truly what he says he is? An Adamantine adventurer?

There was no time for him to gather his thoughts or mourn the loss of his blade as the giant of a man swung his weapon with a speed and force that was enough to chop his head clean off and the fact that it was a wooden sword made it even scarier.

He dodged the strike purely on his reflexes transpiring in the wooden blade grazing the tip of his nose and actually drawing blood.

Strong armour, astounding speed, ridiculous strength and an unbridled arrogance; he certainly won't be an easy opponent for me to defeat.

Camus mostly had a problem with the fact that the Human had not used a single Martial Art – never mind take a stance – since the dual had begun.

You certainly think you can defeat me because you have a little bit of skill and that you can hide behind that armour? Do you really think that you can beat me without Martial Arts?! Hold on to that way of thinking ... hold onto it very tightly.

Since the Human was unable to keep up with his speed, he decided that all he had to was increase it. His backup sword was now obviously more than useless, so he opted for his dagger. This time his target was the eye-slit in Momon's armour.

Camus dashed towards Momon activating two more Martial Arts.

"[Black Stride] [Mirage Step]" these two Martial Arts increased his speed to the point that he looked like he was teleporting to his opponents.

Just as Camus was about to stab through the slit with his dagger he felt a sharp pain in his stomach, while he was still trying to figure out what had happened, he felt himself land on the ground. Camus sat up and noticed that he had been struck by the hilt of the wooden sword.

That does not make much sense. To be sent flying so far out to the edge of the ring. What is with his monstrous strength?

Camus was still trying to gather himself and his thoughts when he noticed one of his subordinate's charge at Momon. The rest quickly followed. He did not care to stop them. If they governed to do what he could not he would gladly take the fall for them if necessary. He sat up slowly to get a better view and he quickly wished that he had not. His men were simply rag dolls being tossed about in Momon's presence.

Aah, now you've done it, Camus.

No matter how one looked at it, Camus and company were in the wrong. His subordinates had attacked a guest unprovoked for absolutely no reason. The Elder would have their heads for this. No matter how much he hated the thought of doing what he was about to do he had to do it anyway.

"Momon-san ... I apologise for my men's actions. They were uncalled for."

"Eh? Haha. Don't mind them at all, they simply got heated at the idea of sparring, no?"

Way to add insult to injury.

"Anyway, look at that, it seems that the Hunting Troupe is back." Momon said pointing to the cave entrance.

Figures slowly made their way in. Upon closer inspection they held their heads low, dragged their feet and were the physical manifestation of exaggerated depression. Their chins hung low and their arms practically blew with the wind. Of course, this description applied to all but one.

One was skipping with joy as they seamlessly dragged the corpse of a beast.

"Arthun? Arthun?! Oi! Did your group encounter Demonic Beasts or their kin?"

"..."

"Arthun talk to me!"

"Oh, Captain? You were talking to me? Captain has no business talking to a bug as insignificant as I. I am unworthy of being even noticed by other life forms."

"Oi! Did this creature give you some kind of depression virus? What in the world happened to you?"

"Captain ... let's just give up."

"Aura, how did it go?"

Everyone turned to the calm voice of Momon that contrasted greatly with Camus' shrieking.

"It was so much fun!" Aura's voice and attitude was the exact opposite of the people who accompanied her.

"I'll tell Momon-san all about it along with Mare and... I take it Momo-sama is with Mare?"

"Huh?"

Everyone immediately turned their heads to where they had last seen Momo and true enough, he was not there.

Camus gawked frozen along with everyone else and for the first time, he did not hate the Human. He did not wish him any harm. He could have cursed his entire existence for bringing ruin upon their tribe, but he had to admit that he was partially to blame.

This notion was further solidified when he picked up on what sounded like shrilling laughter outside the cavern.

This is the definition of 'out of the frying pan and into the fire'.

Murphy's Law indeed.

A/N:

Hello again!

You know, the only thing worse than writers block is having all the ideas and fully cultivating your direction only to never find the time to do anything about it. Also, sorry this was shorter than usual.

Am I back? Unfortunately not, I got one week free and I managed to draft an another two and a half chapters. Also, also, since I know I will definitely be busy for the next four weeks I was like, JUST PROOF READ WHAT YOU CAN AND UPDATE, DAMMIT! So, I'll try to get the next chapter up ... soooon :-}