A/N: Hello everyone, hope you're doing well! I'm back with another high-octane chapter that I very much hope you'll enjoy because it took quite a bit of effort :p.
It's been a while, as usual, so in case you've forgotten what's going on in the story, here's a brief summary of the last few chapters:
(chapter 35) Ainz, after liberating a group of children (among whom the most prominent figure was a girl named Lillith) from their depraved human traffickers and sheltering them within his [created fortress], was suddenly pulled into another dimension amongst the cosmos: and after enduring a disorienting acclimation to this space not meant for mortals, found himself face to face with Solis, the sun's avatar, who suddenly imbued him with an unknown power that seared its way into his body and soul.
(chapter 36): After recovering from this traumatic experience, Ainz found, much to his astonishment, that he had acquired 25 new levels corresponding to unique job classes that certainly never existed in Yggdrasil. All his stats received a nominal boost as well. And as if things couldn't get any crazier? He learned some indigestible truths about the universe—the existence of a multiverse—and was told that with his new powers, he had to save the New World against a cosmic force of balance known as [The Hollow]. Upon being plopped back down to the New World, his head swimming with information he could not hope to wrap his head around, Ainz tested his new powers with what he expected to be an innocuous [fireball]: but failing to control his nascent abilities, he damaged himself and wasted an exorbitant amount of mana. Meanwhile, at a party celebrating the newfound alliance between the Sorcerous Kingdom and Re-Estize (and the former's charitable donation of food rations to the latter), Sebas found himself face-to-face with a peculiar enemy...
(chapter 37): Sebas fought with this strange foe, and try as he might, no matter how many times he massacred it, it just wouldn't stay dead. Finally, backed into a corner after exposing the fog-shrouded creature's true form, Sebas was forced to unleash his dragon form to hold this being off while Lakyus and Lupusregina were sent for reinforcements...
Ah, and if you can spare a minute at the end, please leave a review!
Chapter 38:
The Return
For the second time in under a month, Lakyus found herself in harrowing proximity to a battle of legendary proportions.
She rounded the corner of the stairwell sharply, up through the castle of Re-Estize, nearly stumbling off balance with every step as the ground quaked incessantly—a frightening testament to the monstrous power being unleashed outside.
KRA-KOOM!
!
She whirled around, halfway up the next flight of steps, as the wall adjacent to the landing she had just traversed exploded, and two tangled bodies tumbled in amongst a barrage of stone.
The fog-cloaked creature was on top of Sebas, and a hideous screech burst from its concealed skull as it lifted its conjoined hands high above its head—but before it could bring them smashing down, Sebas sent his tail crashing into its side like a wrecking ball.
BOOM!
Lakyus' heart leaped into her throat as the monster was sent flying into another wall, which collapsed on top of it. It extricated itself from the rubble quickly, unfazed yet further incensed, and fixed its gaze—crackling with a vicious hatred—upon the draconic butler who was back on his feet, poised and ready to receive its next attack which came hardly a second later, at a speed Lakyus could barely perceive.
Sebas parried its raking claws with his own, casting a spray of ember-like sparks over his shoulder as he retaliated with a lightning-fast kick to the airborne creature's head, delivering it headfirst to the ground right at the base of the stairs upon which Lakyus stood, frozen, her heart beating thrice per second—though it practically stopped when the creature, tilting its head back, cast an inverted glare that turned her knees to jelly.
The thought of running, or fighting, or doing anything didn't even occur to her as the creature reoriented itself with a growl, its smoldering eyes still on her, and like a demon-possessed beast, it began crawling up the steps towards her on all fours at a frightening speed.
Her mind was simply a blank and resigned slate as its claws set upon her, no doubt to drag her down and devour her in an instant.
Its snatching digits got within mere inches of her ankles before Sebas, in the nick of time, managed to seize it by its own ankles and yank it back.
And Lakyus marveled in terror at the ravenous fervor with which it continued to screech and reach for her, even as it was being dragged away and its chin bounced violently off each step—its eyes never left hers, and at that moment Lakyus was convinced that its one and only purpose in life was to destroy her. A one-track-mind killing machine.
With a grunt, taking advantage of its distraction, Sebas lifted it off the ground and began to spin. At last, the creature's attention left her, permitting her to breathe.
As it was being swung around by its legs, the creature did a mid-air sit-up in an attempt to reach for Sebas and free itself—but again, it fell just shy of its mark as the force of the rotation became too great, forcing it hapless and parallel to the ground.
The pair became a blur as Sebas spun faster and faster, and Lakyus could see the air whirling around them, filling the whole space, buffeting her hair and forcing her to squint in awe.
After an incalculable number of twirls, Sebas let go and launched the mad beast through the wall, creating a gaping hole right next to the one they had originally spilled through.
Lakyus watched the form of the creature flailing wildly through the air in a parabolic arc, its indignant roar getting more and more distant yet no less unnerving—an eruption of dust and dirt denoted its meteoric landing some few hundred meters away.
"Pardon me," was all Sebas said, nodding in her direction before casually stepping through the hole he had just created and dropping to the ground outside, out of sight.
Mere seconds later, the whole castle shook as the two found each other again, and their battle resumed.
Lakyus could scarcely catch her breath as relief, fear—and once again, shame—flooded her system.
"Oiiiiiii! Hurry it up adventurer-san!"
She blinked and her head snapped up, finding Lupusregina, who was peering down at her over the banister, two flights of steps above.
"H-hai…" she replied dazedly, still reeling from all the devastation she had just witnessed occurring over what couldn't have been longer than ten seconds, and how close she had come to dying, again. If they had come crashing through the wall just two seconds earlier, before she had reached the next set of stairs, then she'd have surely been killed in an instant.
She heard the Pleiades' flighted steps echoing farther and farther away, heading for Zanac's chamber.
Lakyus tried to rise, and succeeded, but only on account of the wall's support. She looked up: the stairwell seemed to spiral into infinity above her.
Shaking slightly, she withdrew the tawny [message] scroll from her breastplate and clutched it tightly between both hands. She took a determined breath as she leaned against the wall; her arm tensed at her side, preparing to give the bundled paper a light toss in front of her, and she pursed her lips, unable to stave off the blush she felt creeping up her neck. Even just the prospect of talking to him—not even face to face—was filling her with anxiety.
But of course, now was hardly the time for such frivolous thoughts, so said the flash of light that suddenly lit up the horizon visible through the destroyed wall—a two-story house went up in a burst of golden flames, and promptly collapsed. Mere seconds later, the dragon fire spread to the two neighboring houses—they practically sublimated in a puff of thick black smoke.
Lakyus' heart skipped a beat of embarrassment at how ridiculous she felt: here she sat, dithering like a ditzy maiden, while devastation spread through her beloved city like a disease.
And the only cure for it was in her hands.
How unbecoming, she chastised herself, a half-smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
"[Message]!" she cried out as she tossed the scroll before her, just as Evileye had instructed (she had never used one before). The paper unfurled in mid-air and disappeared in a flash of blue light. There was a few seconds of silence and she began to wonder, panicking, if perhaps she had made a mistake, but then—
Ta-ting!
A chime, undoubtedly assuring an established connection.
"[Satoru-dono]!" she exclaimed hopefully: "[I—we—need your help, please! There's some… thing, a monster, and Sebas-dono, he—!]"
Ta-ting!
[[Message] has failed to reach its target]
She blinked, eyes wide with disbelief as an automated voice echoed through her head.
There came another violent quake, pitching her back against the wall, down which she slid, hopeless and limp, until her bottom hit a step.
She looked down at her empty, trembling hands.
"N-no way… why..?" she whispered as her vision began to blur, her voice tight with despair as her glazed eyes drifted up to behold the ever-growing sea of flames outside. The whole northeast district had now conflagrated.
She clenched her fists shut.
…The sickness was spreading.
And now, there was no cure.
And yet, despite the hopeless situation, Lakyus caught herself smiling: and from this upward curve of self-deprecation trickled a hollow laugh. Because oh how silly she felt!
Three times, now, she had frozen in the face of danger—three times, in the past month, she had sought to rely on a stranger's aid. (And though she considered Suzuki Satoru as much more than that, and was beginning to grow quite fond of Sebas as well, she knew that's ultimately what they were to each other—strangers, or at best, acquaintances).
Lakyus Alvein Dale Aindra—adamantite ranked adventurer; hero of Re-Estize; leader of the most esteemed party in the kingdom…
Useless, helpless, weak, and pathetic.
"..."
Her smile faded, dissolving into a straight line of gritted teeth—their ivory ranks clenched so tightly that it felt like her jaw might explode. Her whole body began to tremble, not with fear, or any of the other embarrassing feelings which seemed prone to possess her as of late—but with anger.
'Adamantite', a title denoting peerless strength—not just in terms of power, she used to believe, but of character and virtue as well.
She lifted her chin, reached up, and with a vicious yank, ripped the tag from around her neck—for what a joke it was, to have such a symbol adorning her body..!
Without another thought, eyes clenched shut, she threw it away—she heard it bounce off the wall with a pitiful ting! like the worthless little trinket it was, and clatter to the floor: where exactly, she didn't know or care.
And it really was worthless, wasn't it? It had to be, if someone such as herself could've earned it..!
And the instant that thought rolled off her mind's tongue, her eyes flashed open in realization.
A small piece of metal—yes, that's right! That's all it was!
Growing up, she never dreamed of becoming an 'adamantite-ranked adventurer'.
She dreamed of becoming a hero
The two were not synonymous, as she had foolishly believed over the past few years of her life. They were worlds apart. Anyone with a modicum of talent could become an adamantite adventurer. But to be a hero? It took something more. Much more. Something ineffable and, evidently, still beyond her reach.
A hero would never stand on the sidelines while their home was being razed; a hero would never just accept their weakness and let others do the heavy lifting.
To be a hero is to stand tall, in spite of your own powerlessness. To be a hero is to rise above.
Lakyus clenched a fist over her chest and took a deep breath as her gaze settled on the destruction transpiring outside.
Clarity.
She had lost sight of herself, after being made complacent and arrogant by a shiny piece of metal strung around her neck. She thought she had achieved her dream—but in reality, she wasn't even close. She had climbed a hill and called it a mountain.
The ground suddenly quaked again—and it was a calling, echoing down from one of those mountains, whose peaks she couldn't even see through the clouds: challenging her to rise.
And this time, she would answer it.
No more running. No more hiding. No more freezing.
Never again..!
[Kilineiram] in hand, she stepped up to the ledge of the hole Sebas had exited through just minutes prior and looked down at the ground.
"..."
And after only a moment's hesitation, she took that final stride: her boot met nothing but air, and led her down. And as she was falling, it occurred to her that maybe she was just being selfish. Maybe all this talk of dreams and heroics was just a self-deluding guise for her wounded pride. After all, it's not as if she could actually help Sebas. This wasn't some fairytale in which she, the protagonist, would awaken to some latent ability at just the right moment to vanquish the unfathomable evil.
In all likelihood, she was just throwing her life away—but if that was her fate, then so be it.
She would meet it head-on, standing on her own two feet.
Chasing her dream.
…
"No… No… No… No..!" Zanac cried as he withdrew from the storage chest at the foot of his bed, empty-handed, and looked around himself at all the unwanted things he had just tossed out during his frantic search. Pieces of his ceremonial panoply, a collection of dusty old books, yellowed letters, a gaudy hat, potions, rings, nightshirts, blankets, a set of keys he didn't even know what for—but no scroll!
"Nothing over here!" Climb reported from the other side of the room, crouched in front of a three-tiered dresser.
Zanac shook his head in disbelief.
"I… I don't understand!"
"Oni-san…" Renner trailed off in a low, admonishing tone: "how could you misplace something so important?"
"I didn't! I swear, I put them right here!"
"Then where are they?"
"I-I don't know! They should be here! What can I say? They're just… gone!" he exclaimed, waving his hands through the air in a fuss.
Renner sighed.
"Are you sure you're not just misremembering? You drank quite a bit tonight, did you not?"
The king closed his eyes in exasperation and muttered a prayer of self-restraint under his breath.
"Renner, my dear, sweet little sis—"
BOOM!
The castle was rocked by a sudden explosion—Renner yelped, and both Zanac and Climb stumbled and sprang, respectively, to their feet.
The chandelier pitched violently back and forth overhead as sprinklings of loosed dust rained down on them.
"I-is it just me, or did that feel really close?!" Zanac shouted, his voice having risen an octave.
"I-it did," Climb concurred gravely, his eyes narrowed to the ground as if he were trying to see through the floor.
"Halt!"
"Stop right there!"
All three heads snapped in the direction of the chamber entrance as they heard their guards shout with authoritative bluster.
A beat of silence, and then a grunt—a sound of metal striking stone, a swung sword that missed its mark and found the wall instead—and then a yell that ended in almost the same instant that it began.
"Renner-sama, please stand behind me!" Climb called urgently as he placed himself in front of his charge and drew his sword.
For an instant, Zanac had the time to inwardly remark, with no shortage of bitterness, how unfair it was that she still had Climb while Unglaus had abandoned him without a second thought—and in service of another king, no less!
Not that it matters, he thought with a grim smile. It's not like Climb would be able to do anything against whatever comes through that door: perhaps his resistance would afford them but a single extra breath.
Sure enough, the door flew open, flying off one of its hinges, and crashed into the wall, against which it settled crookedly.
From the darkness—for all the lights in the hall had long since succumbed to the tremors, fallen from their fixtures, and broken—a pair of golden and unmistakably predatory eyes peered, and locked onto Zanac, much to his chagrin.
It seemed he would be the first to go.
Fwump!
The two royals were startled as three limp bodies—the guards—were tossed simultaneously to the center of the room, landing like sacks of potatoes, piled on top of each other.
A footstep, crushing glass underfoot—the yellow eyes drew closer, and their owner emerged:
"Uwaaaaah, it's getting pretty crazy out there. Please tell me you've contacted Naza—Hmm?" Lupusregina hummed, tilting her head to the side curiously as she did not understand the fear, which then promptly dissolved into relief, defining everyone's expression.
"What's goin' on with all of you? You eat some bad food at the party tonight or something?" she asked, folding her arms behind her head.
The first to respond was the guard who lay at the bottom of the pile, groaning as he began to stir with half-consciousness.
Zanac couldn't help the nervous chuckle that escaped him, as Climb sheathed his blade with a relieved sigh.
"We thought you were the monster, Miss Beta," Renner explained on behalf of them all, her voice as airy and composed as ever, making Zanac wonder if she had ever been afraid to begin with.
The redheaded Pleiade started to grin—but then must have thought better of it, and shook her head.
"As funny as that is, we don't have time for chit-chat! Were you able to contact Albedo-san?!"
She looked between the three of them expectantly, but none of them would meet her gaze. Then she turned her attention to the room itself—every part of which suggested a crazed and fruitless search.
"... You've gotta be kidding me," she deadpanned, shoulders slumping as she leveled a cold glare towards the king who blushed in embarrassment.
"I-I didn't 'lose' it! It simply… isn't where I had put it, and now we can't find it!" he grumbled defensively.
"..."
"I-in any case!" he continued, not wanting to let the patheticness of his excuse percolate any longer, and coughed into his hand: "wh-what's our next course of action, then? I should think it's about time we made our retreat, isn't it?"
The question hung heavily in the air, punctuated by another violent rocking of the earth, and Lupusregina bit her lip. Was running away really all that was left to do..?
"I wish… I could help Sebas-dono," Climb suddenly spoke up, his gaze drifting to the floor as he clenched a fist: "if only I were stronger..! Dammit..!"
And it was as if he had pulled the words straight from her mind—she found her own hands balling shut at her sides as her ears drooped flatly against the top of her head.
As much as she trusted Sebas' strength, against that thing… even she couldn't say for certain that he was going to prevail.
"C-Climb-kun…" Renner mewled, placing a sympathetic hand on his shoulder which only made him clench his eyes shut in frustration.
"There's no helping it, boy," Zanac spoke with a shrug and a resigned smile: "it's not your fault we live in a world where we're surrounded by monsters. And I mean no offense, Miss Beta," he added wearily, though his half smile faded upon noticing her peculiar stiffness.
"Miss Beta..?"
In response, she turned around and sprinted out of the room.
She couldn't bear to stand still for a moment longer—not when Sebas was out there, fighting that thing, all alone..!
She wouldn't allow herself to be lumped in with the likes of these humans. She may be weak, but she wasn't useless, surely!
"O-oi! Where are you going?!" She heard Zanac call after her, his voice already distant.
Nazarick might not get here in time, but maybe Ainz-sama..!
That Lak-what's-her-face must have contacted him by now, surely—and until he arrived, she intended to back her superior up as best she could, even if that just meant supporting him with [Heal] and [Regeneration] whilst under the veil of [Complete Invisibility]..!
She reached the top of the stairwell and with an effortless 'hup!' nimbly vaulted over the banister and tapped down on the first floor with nary a sound.
The ground shook again—and now that she was level with the source, she could easily trace its origin coming from the South.
In the gardens again..? She wondered as she set off in that direction, overflowing with determination: or so she thought, but with every step she took, she found the pit in her stomach growing, weighing her down and slowing her pace. Her ears twitched like crazy in response to the massive powers she was closing in on. With her keen senses, she could smell—and almost taste—Sebas' ki in the air, intermingled with something most foul and repugnant and equally ubiquitous. It made her stomach twist and churn, and she shook her head as she ran to dispel the doubt growing in the back of her mind.
She had frozen once—but not again. Even if it had been at Sebas' own suggestion, the fact remained that she had wanted to run, and abandon him.
But never again.
She would be useful, no matter what.
And… she wanted to be there when Ainz-sama showed up.
…
A draconic monk and a creature of unknown origin stood opposed in the middle of an utterly devastated and battle-scarred plain—it was unfathomable that, not even fifteen minutes prior, the area had been a lush and ornamented terrace designed to host classy festivities. Innumerable craters littered the ground, connected by a byzantine network of cracks and fissures. Some areas of the ground were charred black and ready to crumble under the slightest pressure. And there remained not a single trace of greenery in sight, it having all been burned away to nothingness by Sebas' ki flames.
"..."
This was the first lull in combat that had occurred in over five minutes, and it emphasized a clear yet loathsome fact.
While maintaining eye contact with his opponent, Sebas turned his head to the side and spat out a mouthful of blood—a brief interruption to his labored breath.
He was losing.
He'd felt it for a while now, the tide of battle turning in his opponent's favor: and comparing their states now, in this brief—and, Sebas realized, salutary—respite, it was clear as day.
He was nearing his limit. His opponent, however, he was convinced, didn't have a limit. Despite everything he had thrown at it—hundreds of punches and kicks, ki blades, and blasts of dragon fire—it stood across from him now, ostensibly undamaged and indefatigable.
And just as frustrating was the fact that the creature remained an entirely inscrutable enigma. And this surprised Sebas, for it was true what they said, that warriors caught a glimpse into their opponent's heart and soul when clashing swords or fists. Violence was a universal language, and through its intense enactment between two skilled combatants, a culmination and display of each one's blood, sweat, and tears, it was impossible not to communicate at least some of your true nature and convictions.
Or so he had thought—but over the last ten minutes, Sebas had developed no such deeper understanding of his enemy. If anything, it eluded him now more than ever.
There was just nothing to read: no ki, no life force, no mana… nothing.
Sebas felt like he was fighting a phantom: an illusion, something that didn't exist—but there was nothing illusory about the weight behind its blows, which had peeled away his scales in several spots over his body and bruised the flesh beneath.
"..."
Those same beady little dots of white light, piercing him from the depths of a silver nebula.
They were really starting to piss him off. Just once, Sebas wanted to see them blink. But they never did: like their owner, they were—
!
Sebas leaned to the right, just in time to dodge a jab—then to the left, avoiding a follow-up cross.
—fucking relentless.
THWACK!
A burst of wind rippled out around them as their legs clashed, Sebas having raised his knee to block a kick with his thigh.
And worst of all? While he was becoming fatigued, it was only getting stronger, and deadlier. In the beginning, it had lashed out haphazardly like a deranged beast with wild swings, linear movements, and predictable lunges: it had been like a nascent being, unaccustomed to its own strength and speed. But over the course of their battle, it continued to evolve with every exchange, gaining more and more control over its monstrous power to the point that Sebas now felt he was fighting another martial artist. And it had grown not just as a fighter, but as a being as well—it had stopped its animalistic cries and grunts for some time now, instead consigning itself to a composed and almost eerie silence.
Sebas ducked under a grisly hook.
Bob, weave, sidestep—he grabbed hold of the monster's incoming outstretched hand and guided it past him.
!
When before this would have sent it stumbling and skidding off balance for several steps, this time the creature slammed its foot down to negate its redirected momentum, spun off of it, and launched a kick aimed at the side of Sebas' head.
He caught its heel mere inches from the side of his head and winced as his palm throbbed with pain.
This thing..!
He swung his own leg out, intending to sweep his off-balance opponent's leg out from under him—but it met nothing but air, as with a nimbleness that betrayed its size, the fog monster hopped over the attack, twisting in mid-air off its foot still within Sebas' clutches, and sent a second kick arcing towards the other side of the butler's head.
He intercepted it by an even narrower margin than the first, the width of his hand occupying all the space between his cheek and the top of the creature's foot.
But now, having committed both legs to an unsuccessful end, it was trapped in the air within his clutches, and at his mercy.
Sebas drew in a deep breath, churning and channeling as much ki as he could muster into his back leg which he wound back, and then swung up in a vicious arc.
[Empowered Strike].
WHAM!
A direct hit, folding the creature's hulking frame in half over his leg for a moment before it shot up into the sky.
Sebas planted his feet, looked up, and opened his mouth wide—
FWOOOOOSH!
Another torrent of Dragonfire erupted from his mouth, a concentrated beam streaking across the night sky towards its hapless target fifty feet above.
"..."
In that surreal, split second before gravity took hold, when it was neither rising nor falling—and mere milliseconds before the beam hit—the creature managed to orient itself and thrust its legs down to meet the flames as it crossed its arms in front of its face.
Its heels plowed through the incoming blast, bifurcating the four-thousand-degree stream and shooting through the flames like a bullet.
!
Sebas abandoned the attack at the last possible second and leaped out of the way as the creature crashed down, thundering right through the spot he had been standing in.
Sebas assumed a flexible fighting stance, fists poised on either side of his chin, as black tendrils of smoke curled out from the corners of his mouth.
He narrowed his eyes at the opaque cloud of dust, waiting for the creature to emerge.
There was no need to press the attack—there was no point.
He just needed to hold out a little bit longer, until Ainz-sama and Nazarick arrived. Together, surely, they'd be able to coordinate something to take this thing down for good.
He chanced a brief glance down at his fists: the light with which they were imbued had been reduced to a paltry and flickering glow, like that of a waning candle. He was running on fumes.
Two to three minutes—that's about how much longer he expected to be able to last. If reinforcements didn't arrive by then…
He shook his head.
No, he shouldn't prescribe himself a time limit.
He would last as long as he needed to until this anomaly could be passed unto more capable hands.
The veil of dust finally cleared, and there the creature stood, regarding its own outstretched fist curiously, flexing the fingers closed and then open in a satisfied manner.
It glared at Sebas over the ridge of its knuckles—and the Iron Butler was positive that this was a deliberate callback to what he himself had done before their fight had truly begun.
And then, to remove any doubt of that fact, it opened its hand towards him and curled its fingers in invitation.
Sebas' eyes widened indignantly, and for a moment, his legs tensed in preparation to launch himself forward, fuelled by boiling blood.
But he was better than that—and he's not sure he'd ever be able to face Ainz-sama again if he ever fell for such an obvious bait.
Like he said: he only had to hold out for a little bit lon—
"[~I've enjoyed our little bout~]"
!
Sebas' eyes widened as a shadow loomed over him.
When did it—?!
He didn't even have time to process its sudden proximity, much less the fact that it had spoken, before he perceived a tree-trunk-sized limb twisting towards his head, and he lifted his arm purely by instinct, catching the skull-caving hook with both his forearm and his shoulder.
Crack!
His eyes widened in astonishment at the sound of his bones breaking, and a flash of pain ripped through his whole body from the point of impact, tearing a howl of pain from his throat as his feet left the ground—and Sebas was not sure if he had ever had his stalwart guard broken so unequivocally before.
He returned to the ground seconds later, hard and fast—he bounced once, twice, on his side and then his back before he managed to right himself back onto his feet, staggering and skidding still for several more steps.
He looked in the direction he had been launched from—but there was nothing there.
"[~But I'm afraid it's time I moved on to the main course~]"
!
Without even looking, Sebas pivoted and snapped a back kick.
Grab.
He looked over his shoulder in shock, and found his foot engulfed by the creature's hand, intercepted just before his heel could meet the center of its chest.
He tried to retract his leg, but he couldn't—couldn't even budge it.
"[~Where is your champion? Tell me, and I can assure you a relatively painless death. Consider it my way of saying thanks for entertaining me while I adjusted to this plane~]"
The Iron Butler had no idea what it was talking about: but if the word 'venom' were given a voice, it would surely sound exactly like this thing. Deep, orotund, and beguiling. Poisoned honey.
!
Again, Sebas found himself lifted off the ground, and the world became a blur as he was swung by the ankle over the creature's head, and sent flying, straight through a corner store—four separate sets of wooden walls. The whole building collapsed in his wake.
He crashed, eyes clenched shut, half-embedded in a cobblestone road, and it took him a full second to remember how to breathe.
The entire right side of his body was alight with excruciating pain, the likes of which he had never felt before, never even believed possible. He prayed for it to just turn to numbness.
With a pained grunt, his whole upper body trembling, he sat up, clutching at his right arm—unresponsive and inoperable.
"[~You did well, for a mortal unpossessed by the sentinel's light~]"
He looked up in horror—
BOOM!
The creature landed right on top of him, both of its feet being delivered to his gut as a merciless stomp. It felt as if a mountain had been dropped on him
"Ga-hack~!"
Sebas choked on a surge of blood, squeezed and ejected from his body like toothpaste from its tube, much like the air that left his lungs, as he was buried deep into the ground underfoot.
At last, the pressure left his torso as the creature stepped off of him, and he gasped for breath—but he managed to inflate his lungs only a tenth of the way before the pain became unbearable, and he was sent into a fit of coughing, a spray of red spewing from his mouth with every convulsion. He was certain that all of his ribs were broken—his lungs, probably punctured by their fragments.
!
He could barely tell he was being lifted out of the rubble by a massive hand gripping the top of his head, so focused he was on not blacking out, and the process of breathing: forcing raspy, shallow, and insufficient breaths.
It wasn't until he felt upright, feet dangling limply in the air, that he forced one eye open and found himself face to face with the creature—brought so close that he could feel the chill of its fog against his face, almost smothering him.
He gagged, hacking up another influx of blood—the crimson droplets vanished into the void of the creature's countenance.
"[~Ah, look at you… and after I had just promised you a painless death. How careless of me~]"
Sebas winced as he felt its grip tighten around his skull like a vise, and his vision went dark.
"[~Though I believe I did say 'relatively,' didn't I? Hmmm… I suppose that doesn't bode well for the rest of this world's inhabitants~]" it mused insouciantly.
Squuuuuuuuueze.
Sebas roared in agony, clutching at the creature's hand with both of his own, desperate to loosen its grip and relieve the overwhelming pressure being exerted on his skull, which he felt was on the brink of imploding.
Wham!
Wham!
Wham!
He kicked with his intact foot with all the desperate strength he could muster, over and over, driving the top of his shoe into the monster's groin.
"[~Really now,~]" it hummed with chastizing disappointment, unfazed.
"[~Do not denigrate yourself in your final moments with such a pathetic display. Face the [End] with dignity~]".
"What… are… you..?" Sebas choked out angrily, and he could see its invisible grin.
[~There's no point in telling you that now, is there?~]
It cocked its free hand back, its sharp digits splayed and rigid, ready to deliver a five-pronged finishing blow—and it was easy for Sebas to imagine his own heart within its incarnadined clutches.
Ah… this is it.
A bloody smile cracked his anguished expression.
How pathetic, to have allowed himself to be defeated like this…
A weak chuckle, quickly devolving into another vicious coughing fit, escaped him, and he winced in pain.
But… at least… he held on… long enough… for Tsuare…and everyone else… to escape…
Maybe that was enough to avoid bringing shame to himself and the name Ainz Ooal Gown…
He closed his eyes as the claws thrust toward him.
"Hah!"
CLANG!
…
…
..?
Sebas' eyes fluttered open in confusion—and then went wide.
"[~Well now…~]"
The creature sneered in an amused tone, and in its redirected hand, stretched out behind it, held aloft in its palm, was a glittering blade that seemed to have been crafted from the night sky itself.
"Lakyus…san…!" Sebas grunted in disbelief: "Why… are you here..!?"
After curling its fingers around [Kilineiram's] tip, completely disregarding its edge, the creature effortlessly plucked the blade right out of the sword maiden's trembling grasp.
"[~Tell me, little bird, who can barely stand before me…~]"
it snarled as it cast the weapon aside and released Sebas, who dropped to the ground like a sack of bricks, and turned to face the puny adventurer:
"[~What possessed you to throw your life away? I would've come for it sooner or later, anyway, but… was it pride? Arrogance..?~]"
It loomed over her, white eyes flickering intensely.
"[~Or just plain stupidity?~]"
"..."
Lakyus felt like she was going to pass out under the weight of its cruel and depthless glare, and she loathed that she couldn't bring herself to meet it.
She couldn't fathom how Sebas had managed to stand against this thing, all alone, for as long as he did.
He was a true hero, unlike her.
The creature hummed expectantly—its question was not rhetorical—and leaned in closer, no doubt relishing the effect its proximity was having on her.
"..."
A chill ran down Lakyus' spine, and she clenched her fists shut at her side, desperate to snuff out their affliction, as she had watched Sebas do earlier—but it did not work.
She swallowed, displacing the lump of fear in her throat just enough for a few words pass:
"It's not… stupid…" she choked out, blinking back tears before her voice faltered—but when she looked past the creature through the corner of her vision, and her eyes met Sebas', she found it again.
She looked up, at last, levying as defiant a glare as she could muster, forcing herself to stare right into those penetrating pinholes of light.
"It's not stupid…" she repeated, forcing a quivering smile:
"TO WANT TO BE A HERO!"
And as she proclaimed her ambition, she leaped back several meters—and with a wave of her hands, conjured a ring of magical swords to her orbit.
The creature stood upright, regarding her blankly for a moment, before throwing its head back in laughter: a grating, gravelly noise.
"[~I see, I see!~]"
It exclaimed gleefully, spreading its arms wide to receive the six golden blades shooting toward it from all angles.
Fwip!
Lakyus blinked as each sword met nothing but air—the creature had disappeared.
"[~A hero! Is that what you are?!~]"
!
She whirled around in surprise—a hand snatched her by the throat and wrenched her into the air.
Another cruel laugh echoed out from its disembodied mouth as Lakyus writhed and choked in its outstretched grip, kicking desperately, though her boots met nothing for her legs were shorter than its arms. She seemed a child in its clutches—its thumb and index finger alone enveloped the whole of her neck.
"[~I've met plenty of 'heroes' over the eons, and I must confess: I don't think you're one of them!~]"
It snarled sadistically as it tightened its grip, squeezing the last bit of air from Lakyus' lungs in a constrained gasp, and her emerald eyes, the whites of which were already horrendously bloodshot, opened wide for a moment before snapping shut.
"[~But let's say for argument's sake that you are a hero,~]" it continued:
[~Then what would that make you, little pup?~]
For a moment, Sebas was confused by the description which could not possibly apply to him.
Until he followed its gaze, ostensibly fixed on an empty space—and his eyes widened in realization.
"No…" he murmured in a daze, and he pushed himself to his feet in spite of the pain that ravaged his body with every move he made, forcing one of his eyes shut in a constant wince.
And time seemed to slow to crawl as he watched the monster lunge towards the redheaded Pleiade, who had not yet realized that [Complete Invisibility] had failed her.
"STOP!" Sebas screamed, his whole expression twisting in panic as he started to run—and he extended a hand out in front of him towards Lupusregina, hopelessly out of reach.
There was no way he was going to make it in time.
And at the sound of his desperate yell, the wolf froze, and her golden eyes, wide and uncomprehending, flicked up to meet his.
"[~DO YOU FANCY YOURSELF A HERO AS WELL?!~]"
At last, Lupusregina turned, and her vision filled with death, in the form of a giant fist, arcing toward her.
She tried to lift her Croisier—though it would do her no good—and clenched her eyes shut.
"[Hold of Ribs]."
SCHLINK!
Lupusregina winced as a fierce rush of wind blasted her in the face, blowing the cap right off her head and exposing her ears, flush against the top of her head.
"..."
She opened her eyes tentatively.
"Wah~!" she exclaimed, stumbling back several steps as she found the creature's fist mere inches from her face, trembling and straining to reach her.
"[~Wh…at..?~]"
The creature gurgled in shock as it looked down and found itself pierced by an array of translucent tusks of glimmering bone. It could not move a muscle, impaled as it was twice through the torso, and once through each limb, locking it firmly in place. Silver fluid flowed from each wound, gooping and pooling beneath its twitching feet.
Lakyus slipped from its other hand, limp and unconscious, landing harshly on her side.
"[~So… you finally made it…Solis' champion…~]"
The creature hissed, its voice a jarring mix of pain and pleasure.
Tap.
Lupusregina's ears twitched at the sound of something touching down on the ground behind her. She turned around.
..!
And tears sprung to her eyes as they locked with his, for the first time in forever—and as soon as they did, a peculiar expression played across his face, and he looked away.
"Y-yo, Lupusregina," Suzuki began awkwardly: "long time no s—"
But she launched herself at him before he could finish, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face into the side of his neck.
She felt all of her fears dissolve as she squeezed him with what felt like a lifetime of longing, clutching the fabric of his cape as if she was afraid that if she were to let go for even a second, he would disappear.
And Suzuki was taken aback for a moment, his eyes going wide, before he closed them fondly, reciprocating the embrace with one hand on the small of her back and the other on the back of her head, pulling her close with just as much intensity.
He found himself filled to the brim with a warmth that he had not felt in months, and sorely missed. It was the warmth of home.
"Y-you're here…" Lupusregina whispered, the words floating out from between her quivering lips almost as a question.
"I am," he murmured into the top of her head: "…and I'm sorry I'm late."
She shook her head against him, a smile playing across her face as a tear slipped from each of her eyes.
"Mm-mm… you're just in time, like I knew you would be…"
She tightened her grip on him, which shouldn't have even been possible, and Suzuki took a deep breath he had forgotten to take.
"..."
Suzuki opened his eyes slowly, his gaze falling on the creature who had gone eerily still and silent, its head hung low—but the Sorcerer King was not deceived. The spine-chilling aura it was still exuding had not dissipated in the slightest.
"Lupusregina," he whispered warningly, and that was all that needed to be said.
She nodded and withdrew from his arms, albeit a bit reluctantly, and moved to his side.
"Ah!" she suddenly gasped: "Ainz-sama, Sebas, he—!"
"—Is alive," he finished for her, his irises glowing violet with the imbuement of [Detect life].
Sebas, after confirming the appearance of the Supreme One and Lupusregina's safety, had succumbed to his exhaustion and passed out—slumped over on his knees, his head lolled over his chest, and his arms hung limply at his sides.
"...So is Lakyus," Suzuki added after sweeping his gaze over the adventurer: "but they'll both need healing."
"H-hai!" Lupusregina replied, and she couldn't help but smile: because despite the situation, it felt good to have the supreme one back and receive orders from him.
Naturally, she moved to attend to Sebas first.
Suzuki watched her for a moment before closing his eyes for a moment in relief.
Somehow, he actually wasn't too late.
He had needed to [Fly] all the way here after learning the hard way that, perhaps unsurprisingly, the power of the sun was not suited for space-time sorcery such as [Gate]… and currently, embarrassingly enough, he was unable to access his regular mana. Very disconcerting—but he would sort that out later.
Right now…
"[Greater Elicit Emotion]"
He chanted, and in an instant, Suzuki Satoru disappeared; standing in his place now was Ainz, his flesh-bereft skull engulfed in an ethereal, ghostly flame—white as snow, like the dots of light lurking deep within his eye sockets. And the world-class item in his chest, usually a sinister blood-red orb nestled behind his exposed ribs, now seemed a miniature sun, its shimmering white light nuanced by every color of the rainbow.
"Lakyus… Sebas… you both fought hard…" he said as he looked between both of their unconscious forms: "but I'll take it from here."
Lupusregina, whose hands were pressed to Sebas' back and pulsing with a soothing green light, looked over her shoulder in bewilderment as her whole body began to tingle.
"Ainz…sama..?"
He's so… warm…
She could feel the warmth radiating from his being; it felt as though she were basking in the sunlight of a hot summer day.
A throaty cackle suddenly punctuated the air, combatting the warmth, and the creature lifted its head at last so that its piercing white eyes could meet their match.
[~My, my… aren't we confident?~]
Ainz stepped forward, lifting a hand and directing his palm toward the creature's head at point-blank range.
"Yes," he replied flatly, his eyes glowing brightly for a moment with their trademark ocular flare as energy gathered before his outstretched hand.
…
