She released an arrow.

It flew through the air at an incredible speed, and hit her target dead in the center.

After that, she exhaled deeply.

Of the ten arrows she fired, each one hit exactly where she wanted them.

She could even split her own arrows with another, but she didn't want to do that, because that would be needlessly destroying arrows.

Applause erupted from the people nearby. She was embarrassed.

The people cheering her on right now were the others she trained with at the range.

Due to all the prison camps which they retook, the city was quickly becoming rather overcrowded. The people with a talent for archery were drafted into units which were now under her command.

Normally, many people would not like being under the command of a squire, but her archery skills combined with the fact that she accompanied the Sorcerer King made everyone here respect her.

She clapped to get everyone's attention.

"Alright, enough of that, back to training. According to the Sorcerer King, Jaldabaoth's preparing to make another move soon, so we can't waste a single moment."

Everyone dispersed to start practicing on their own.

Neia was only able to shoot a few more arrows of her own before she heard the door to the training yard moving.

Various voices of gratitude and respect welcomed the Sorcerer King.

She rushed over to his side immediately, of course.

"Your Majesty! We are grateful that you have chosen to visit a place like this in person!"

"...Miss Baraja. Your men have made a great deal of progress since last time. Surely that must be due to your hard work as their leader."

She did not know how to respond to that, exactly. This flattery did make her happy, however.

"I'm not sure it's anything of the sort. They probably could have done that by themselves."

"Is that so."

It didn't sound like he really believed her. Did he think high of her abilities? That made her happy again.

"Your Majesty, does your presence here mean that the meetings are over?"

"Ah, yes. They're done for the day."

The city had run into quite a few problems. Before the invasion, it housed about 20 000 people. There were now about 150 000. Many things were being done to take care of the overcrowding.

"What do you intend to do next, Your Majesty?"

"I had intended to see if the transportation of logs was going well... Are you busy with practice, Miss Baraja? If you don't mind, would you like to accompany me?"

Undead horses were used to transport logs at an incredible speed. Initially there were some concerns, but the complaints disappeared after everyone saw just how efficient the undead were.

"Yes! Please allow me to go with you!"

"Very well, then let us proceed."

They had only taken a few steps before a great wall of fire appeared, and started enveloping the city.

The members of Blue Rose mentioned something like this.

"Your Majesty! That's-"

"Jaldabaoth. He's making a move at last. Miss Baraja, I'll be taking my leave."

"W-where are you headed?!"

"Jaldabaoth is probably either aiming to kill me or the leadership. Tell your men to get to a safe place and prepare for battle. They will be useless against him, but demons might appear."

Neia turned to the people present and relayed her instructions about where they and others under her command should go, and to prepare.

Then she turned to the Sorcerer King, who was now starting to take off in flight.

"Your Majesty! Let me go with you!"

"Hmmm... well, all right."

He cast a spell on her which allowed her to fly.

...

As they flew over the city, Neia saw that it had descended into chaos.

But it wasn't long until they reached their destination - the headquarters, which also doubled as Caspond's chambers.

They flew inside their target room using the balcony.

Inside, Remedios and Caspond were already discussing something, along with many paladins and priests. Gustav was out to liberate another prison camp.

"Sorry I'm late. We're out of time, so what plans were you discussing just now?"

Caspond spoke first. "We have not spotted Jaldabaoth yet. Your Majesty, could this fire have been made by a magic item or a demon other than Jaldabaoth?"

"I am not familiar with the details regarding this magic."

Neia thought that this was quite bad. She wasn't sure she'd ever seen the Sorcerer King say that he didn't know something when it came to magic.

"That said, you should be able to pass through it freely. Its primary effect seems to be strengthening the demons within."

"In that case, we ought to evacuate as long as there are no demi-humans or demons around, and then form up into units there. After all, I heard that demons appeared within the area surrounded by the fire when it was last seen in the Kingdom. Let's go with that plan of action, everyone."

Just then, one of the walls burst.

The Sorcerer King stepped between Neia and the explosion. Except for her, everyone else seemed to have been hit by pieces of the wall, and so many of them were on the ground.

"Thank you, Your Maje-"

He stopped her with his hand, and pointed to where the wall used to stand. A terrifying figure stood there.

"Thank you for the warm welcome, humans."

It was the Demon Emperor Jaldabaoth.

His wings were red, his large arms were burning brightly, and his face always looked permanently angry.

And then, a shout was heard.

It was Remedios, who charged at him.

She slashed at him with her holy sword, which seemed to do absolutely nothing.

"Hm? Off with you."

She was then swatted aside like a fly, crashing into another wall.

The sight of this terrified several of the men.

His Majesty spoke next, completely unfazed.

"Now then, I trust you're here for a showdown with me?"

"Indeed. No number of weaklings will make a difference."

"I concur on that point. I have no intention of generating meaningless deaths."

"Well, Your Majesty is powerful. In that case, I hope you don't mind if I bring along some support."

Then, two of the demon maids appeared behind him, wearing those masks.

"We will be waiting in the fountain at the center of town. Of course, you may flee if you wish, Sorcerer King."

Jaldabaoth spread his immense, fiery wings and flew off along with the maids.

"...Then I'll be going too. You should go take shelter so you don't get caught up in the fighting."

Neia was deeply afraid for the Sorcerer King. She knew that he must have been weakened after exhausting so much mana in order to help them.

"Your Majesty, I know this is deeply disrespectful, but if you feel there is danger, I beg you to flee!"

"...But of course. Only a fool who fights without preparing a means of escape. Even if I lose, I will not die. Even if you lose one battle, you can make good use of the information gained in the next one. It doesn't matter if you lose the first battle."

"Of course... as expected of Your Majesty..."

...

Ainz arrived at the plaza. In front of him was the Evil Lord of Wrath which Demiurge had summoned.

Earlier, he told Demiurge to order his summon to act with killing intent, and it took quite a painful amount of time to get him to do so.

He just wanted to practice in a real battle.

There were also Doppelgangers imitating the members of the Pleiades.

This should be a decent fight. And flashy, hopefully.

…

Many people stood on the city walls watching the battle along with Neia.

And they were all completely silent.

The fighting they saw was something beyond description.

There were cyclones, lightning, great eruptions of fire, great explosions of pure white.

Several other shapes could be seen besides Jaldabaoth and the Sorcerer King. They were the demon maids.

He was so powerful.

She thought that none of what her country was facing right now wouldn't have happened if only he was their king.

And then, a large building collapsed in the distance. The fighting destroyed much of that area.

Could His Majesty's mana really hold out?

No, surely he planned for all this. He was incredibly wise, after all.

And then, a point of pure black ascended into the sky, and the great fire followed.

The maids were not following them, so the Sorcerer King must have already defeated them. Was he winning?

Massive spheres of fire and light were appearing as they fought. Each of those spells was likely enough to destroy a city district.

Eventually, one shape seemed to have been slapped out of the sky, travelling east out into the horizon.

The shape which remained in the sky was now approaching them.

Neia saw earlier than most that this shape was the fiery one.

She covered her mouth in shock.

As the others realized, the mood in the air changed completely. But nobody ran. Seeing the battle just now, they knew it was probably pointless.

Seeing him up close, he was in a truly sorry state. Half his face was completely unrecognizable, and other chunks of him were missing.

"...What a mighty opponent. One of the strongest I faced since Momon. I underestimated him. How foolish. Leading the demi-humans nearly became meaningless. However, he is dead. As for-"

She shouted before the demon could finish.

"You're lying!"

It was a lie.

A lie spread by a filthy demon.

His Majesty already told her that he would come back alive. He said that only a fool would fight a battle they could not escape from.

Therefore, this was all a lie.

Her anger left no room for her other emotions to show themselves.

"I am not lying. If that undead had been in top condition, I might have been defeated instead. But to think he actually expended his mana for the sake of humans like you... truly, he was a fool who did not know his priorities. I thank you. For that, you will be spared. For now."

"Bullshit! Bullshit! Bullshit! It's all a lie! No one would believe your words!"

Neia pulled out her bow, and shot an arrow at him.

Despite his wounds, he dodged the arrow.

"Ah! That weapon! This is... was it crafted through runecraft?"

She did not care to listen to another word, and fired again.

He dodged again.

Was he really concerned about the weapon? Should she have joined the battle? Even if she were to die instantly, doing so while fighting for His Majesty...

"Hmph. [Greater Teleportation]."

And just like that, he was gone.