Chapter 4: Carne Village
Hackslashbash: Reuploaded [09/04/2019]
After the meeting, Tiamat decided to take a break in her room while Momonga took his time looking around Nazarick while disguised in a set of heavy plate armor he created.
Surprisingly despite being a dragon, Tiamat was not a collector; her room far less messy than Momonga's.
There was only a circular bed veiled with a see-through white canopy, which could fit three to four people, placed in the middle of the room. There also lay one long coffee table surrounded by a three-seat sofa and two single-seat sofas.
Then there was a door which led to a fully furnished white-gold marbled bathroom, but instead of a bathtub, she had installed a small pool in the middle of the bathroom, similar to an ancient roman bath house.
Looking at the room she had designed so long ago, Tiamat could only bitterly smile.
Even if she were able to afford such a luxurious bed IRL, she would have no place to put it back in her apartment.
'I really went all out, huh? Still, not as intense as some of the other members though…'
Staring at the bed, she decided to settle down to sleep for the night and continue her activities tomorrow. She changed into a spaghetti strapped white nightgown that had a wider finish on her thigh to accommodate her large dragon tail, one of the few draconic features she refused to delete with cash items.
Tiamat dove right into the huge bed and sank a little bit due to the softness of it. The pillows were scattered across the bed as she tried her darndest to sleep.
She was sleepy.
She wanted to sleep so very badly.
But there was just one tiny problem.
Her horns, inspired by the antler-like chinese dragon horns, were a little bit too long for her liking. Furthermore, IRL she used to sleep on her sides a lot. After all, it was the most comfortable position for her.
Now, she couldn't sleep on her side because of the horns.
Tiamat tried laying on her back but the horns got in the way of that as well.
'I just want to sleep!' she screamed internally.
She sat up on her bed, crossed her legs and started thinking. How do Dragons usually sleep?
She quickly came to a conclusion.
They sleep on their stomachs.
Tiamat, no, Hannah, had tried sleeping on her stomach before, but it was too uncomfortable; her boobs and huge tummy constantly getting in the way.
Should she try?
She landed again on her bed, flipping herself over so that her stomach pressed against the bed while strategically placing a soft pillow under her neck so that she could keep her head upright.
'W-woah! This is incredible!'
The bed was so fluffy, it accommodated the shape of her body; moreover her horns weren't stuck anywhere!
'Ah... this is bliss.'
(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡
Tiamat was sleeping soundly as she heard a series of soft knocks on the door. Her eyes slowly opened, taking each and every small detail in the room, from the engravings on the coffee table, to the immaculately white ceiling, to the gentle flowing canopy of the bed. It was interesting, a point of view she had never seen before. Usually in YGGDRASIL, players didn't get such a view of the bed, since it was just a mere decoration.
That was unexpectedly nice.
She felt well rested, something she hadn't felt in years. Since she used to bake all the time, she usually stood in the kitchen for hours. Her shoulders and upper arms, as well as the balls of her feet were usually sore by the end of each day. But ever since they've landed on this new world, she had never felt better.
Tiamat sat up on the bed as the door to her room opened. She looked at the door to see Yuri Alpha bowing towards her.
"Good Morning, My Lady. I've been assigned as your escort today," Yuri said as she gently smiled while fixing her glasses.
"Escort?" Tiamat asked, truly confused.
She was in the Great Tomb of Nazarick, moreover, her room was on the 9th Floor. If intruders were to come to the Tomb, Albedo would notify the entire Guild as she was the overseer of Nazarick. Tiamat was sure that this was the safest place to be. "Why?" she continued.
Yuri pondered on the question given to her by one of the Supreme Beings. To her, it just made sense for one of the most important people in the world to be escorted inside or outside of Nazarick. But if she were to tell the whole truth, it would be that she was scared.
Even if she didn't show it.
And it was not just her.
She and all the sentient beings who lived to serve the Great Tomb of Nazarick were scared.
Even though the importance of their Supreme Beings' well being and happiness would be prioritized over everything, the denizens of the Tomb still desperately desired to ensure that they stay.
To make sure that they were not abandoned.
"Sebas-sama has given the order for me to escort you My Lady," Yuri decided to deflect to her superior instead of giving voice to her fear and worries. For her, their insecurities were not for the Supreme Beings to bear.
Tiamat gave it some thought; it didn't seem that important anyways. Momonga was likely the one who issued the order. After all, it couldn't hurt to be too careful, especially considering their bizarre circumstances. Who knows what could happen here…
"Well, do what you need to do Yuri Alpha," Tiamat decided on a safe answer. "Please take care of me."
She bowed again, albeit too gratefully. "Serving you will be my greatest pleasure."
Tiamat got off from her bed and walked to the bathroom, wanting to take a refreshing bath before going through the rest of the day. Yuri beat her to it, walking over to the bathroom before she could even open the door and quickly prepared the bath for her.
"You don't have to do that Yuri, I can do it myself," Tiamat said to Yuri.
"What nonsense, My Lady," she quickly turned around in Tiamat's direction and fixed her glasses.
'Ah, her glasses just shone…'
Apparently, Yuri Alpha was the serious glasses lady chara huh?
Tiamat covered her lips to stifle a small chuckle. Truly, Yuri was the spitting image of Yamaiko's, her creator, weakness. Meganekkos.
Yamaiko had a kind and gentle nature that could quickly switch to a demon's if someone were to badmouth her favorite characters. Tiamat was glad that Yuri was created in accordance to the image that Yamaiko obsessed over.
It made her feel like, somehow, Yamaiko was there with her.
"The bath has been drawn, My Lady."
Tiamat smiled endearingly at Yuri. "Thank you, Yuri."
She quickly took off her nightwear with Yuri's help and dipped her foot into the bath. She felt the high temperature of the water through her toes.
Tiamat had the feeling the water was steaming hot, but to her it was at a mild relaxing temperature, just like an indoor bath house at those fancy hotels back on earth.
Slowly, she submerged into the bath as the water overflowed from the tub, and she rested her back against the heated marble of the tub. Her shoulders began to relax as she submerged her head under the scalding water.
Her mind started to wander, about the new world, and the Great Tomb of Nazarick. They didn't know where they have landed, or in what kind of world they were in right now, but looking at how peaceful it was last night she didn't think that there were any intruders within Nazarick.
'It would be great if we had a map…' Tiamat contemplated placidly while blowing bubbles in the tub.
But considering how cautious Momonga would be, she didn't think that anyone would be allowed outside.
In YGGDRASIL's user interface, there was usually a map in the right hand corner, but she couldn't access any of the interface at all. Battles would be problematic if they weren't able to check their status…
'I should try training later…' she lazedly thought, swishing her tail around in the bubbly water.
She hadn't heard any news about Nazarick since she had fallen asleep, so she asked Yuri. "By the way, Yuri, did anything happen last night while I was asleep?"
Turning her head to the back slightly, she saw Yuri preparing her clothes near the entrance of the bathroom. Hearing Tiamat's question, Yuri then stopped and turned to her as she gave her a pleased smile.
"Yes, My Lady. I'm happy to say that there have been no intruders inside and outside of Nazarick last night. Moreover, Demiurge-sama has told us about Lord Momonga's intentions with regards to Nazarick and this world's future."
Tiamat hummed happily, completely letting the water's buoyancy lift her body as she floated on the bathwater. So she was right, nothing happened last night. Truly, the Floor Guardians did such an amazing job. "I'm glad to hear that. So, what did Momo-chan said?"
"Apparently, Lord Momonga and Demiurge-sama had a conversation last night. It seems that Momonga-sama is interested in World Domination."
Tiamat flopped over face-first in the bathtub as she inhaled a bit of water into her nose at the ridiculous news.
"W-*cough*-what?!"
As it turned out, while she was asleep, and without her knowing, the citizens of Nazarick decided to proudly rally themselves to the goal of World Domination under the name of Ainz Ooal Gown.
(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡
"Momo-chan!" Tiamat shoved the doors open to see him sitting on the sofa, holding a 『Mirror of Remote Viewing』while Sebas stood by his side.
She saw him and Sebas flinch at her abrupt entrance.
'Did I open the door too loudly?'
"Hannah-san?" Momonga asked, curious why Tiamat, his guild mate, came to him in such a...haggard appearance.
Her hair and dress were still wet from the bath. After hearing the news, she had immediately asked Yuri to help dress her as quickly as possible, before asking the maid to lead her towards where Momonga would be.
It must've come as a shock for the two of them; their perfect image of Lady Tiamat, supposedly, the Goddess of all Dragons must have been shattered.
Tiamat quickly entered the room as Yuri closed the door for her, taking brisk strides towards the skeletal Overlord. Before Sebas could stop her, she grabbed Momonga by his cloak. "Momonga..." she seethed. "You idiot!"
"Eh?"
Tiamat pulled him even closer. "Don't you 'Eh?' me! I thought you were the sensible one here, how could you come to that decision Momonga!"
"Eh? Eh?!" His skeletal face remained expressionless as his voice conveyed his panic and confusion. "No-wait, what did I do?"
"You know damn well what you did. You fucking idiot!" she cursed him in her mother language without realizing.
"Wait a second Hannah, I don't know what you're talking about?" he defended himself, his skeletal arms around her own which held his cloak. He managed to loosen her grip a bit.
"You said it to Demiurge, you said you wanted to take over this world! What in the world are you thinking Suzuki!" she shook the lapels of his cloak even harder, and she could feel the firm grip of his arm trying to peel hers away from his clothes.
Truly, what an idiotic notion!
She thought Momonga would much more careful about this than anyone. She thought he had thought long and hard about their future in this new world.
Why was she throwing such a fuss about this?
Simple: no one could achieve world domination.
World domination was a hypothetical power structure that was achieved when a single social or political authority held absolute power over all the inhabitants of the planet.
Back on earth there had been many existences throughout the history of mankind who aspired towards taking over the world.
Alexander the Great, he who tried to conquer the world with his power of waging wars through his unprecedented military campaign. But he died of illness.
Great Britain, a country that tried to dominate the world using trade and force before eventually becoming the Europe Arcology. Despite the educational benefits that the country provided, they were rejected by the countries it ruled.
United States and Europe, both countries that tried to dominate the world using trade and industry.
That attempt also failed, which resulted in the Great Economic Depression back in 1929 and 1939.
Hitler.
Did she really need to say anything about him?
In conclusion: war, force, money, and power couldn't be used to achieve world domination. Especially since the sacrifice of one or more countries were needed. No one would be willing to make that sacrifice.
Moreover, no one would consent to being ruled by outsiders.
If Momonga was truly aiming to take over the new world, it only left them with one option.
Using Religion or Faith as a weapon to induce fear of death and suppression of desires.
Forget about fear of death, no single religion had induced positive faith amongst anyone on earth.
There would always be victims of faiths in any religion in any century in time.
Hence, one couldn't achieve world domination.
"Momonga, you stupid, dunce, idiooot!" Tiamat smacked his bony rib cage over and over with her arms. On accident, she bumped into the mirror on her left side and two small beeps rang as if to confirm something. She immediately stopped what she was doing to look at the mirror, while the sound of clapping was heard behind her.
"Congratulations on activating the Mirror of Remote viewing, Lady Tiamat," Sebas applauded. Even though his straight face seemed sarcastic, his voice was sincere and pleased, while Yuri who stood beside Sebas joined him in applause soon after.
"『Mirror of Remote Viewing』?" Tiamat asked, looking at Sebas, then to the mirror. Both of her hands were being held by Momonga in an attempt to stop her from hitting him.
The mirror was a magic item used to display an image of a specific region. A very useful item in YGGDRASIL mainly for PK.
However, there were low level spells which obstructed information-gathering spells, rendering the mirror useless against skilled players. In addition, it was easy for users to be counterattacked by offensive counter-divination magic, so it was an average item at best.
Although she knew what the mirror did, she was still confused as to why Momonga would bother with such a trash item.
Seeing the confusion on her face, Momonga replied, "I was trying to use the『Mirror of Remote Viewing』to improve the security of Nazarick. But you beat me to it," he explained to her, letting go of her arms, while trying to figure out how it worked yet again. "Sorry to have you accompany me like this Sebas."
"Staying beside my master and following his orders is the butler that my creator, Touch Me-sama, created and the very reason of my existence, Lord Momonga."
Tiamat looked at the mirror curiously, her frustration forgotten. Momonga tried to zoom in on a small village that she had accidentally discovered, only to find a small swarm of people who quickly ran towards the center of the village.
"What's that? A festival?" she wondered out loud. The people were slowly crowding towards a large circle located at the center of the village. It must have been a festival, yet there were no decorations or festivities, just a bunch of people running in and out of their houses.
"No, that is not a festival," Sebas's steely voice interrupted, his eyes focused on what was shown on the mirror. She could feel the disgust in his words.
Momonga then zoomed in on one of the faster moving figures. As it turned out, there were knights who were riding horses that were massacring the villagers one by one.
"How curious," she mentioned to Momonga.
"Indeed. From the look of their armor, as well as the execution of their movement, I don't think that they're bandits. Their moves are too calculated."
That was true, Tiamat nodded in agreement.
They had divided themselves into groups to scour the village, the vanguard leading the way, while a small group in the middle separated themselves into the small gaps between the houses. This continued until they were evenly distributed throughout the whole village.
It was a bizarre scene. The『Mirror of Remote Viewing』had an HD like quality to it. She could see the blood pooling on the blades of grass in crystal clear quality.
Yet, she did not feel even remotely disgusted.
Tiamat felt pity towards the villagers, afterall, they were far too weak and defenseless to be fighting against a fully equipped knight. The body count continued to rise, but the desire to save them felt muted.
She glanced at Momonga, who just watched the Mirror without any reaction. How could he? He couldn't make any expressions, or even raise an eyebrow on what was happening. For her, it was easy to read Suzuki's expression, since he was a very expressive person. But this Suzuki, Momonga, didn't have any expressions.
Instead of mulling over it, she decided to directly ask him. "Penny for your thoughts?"
He scoffed, continuously changing the view of the village, his red orbs still stuck to what the mirror was showing them.
"If you asked me if I wanted to save them, the answer would be no," he decided.
"Why is that?"
"There is no merit. There is no reason, value, or benefit in rescuing them," He replied emotionlessly.
"I see. Well, I agree with you Momo-chan. There is no merit," she smiled at him and at the mirror. "For you at least."
He finally peeled his eyes from the mirror to look at her, "What do you mean?"
"Well, you've tried using magic with Aura and Mare yesterday in the Arena, right?"
He nodded in affirmation, but his eyes told her he didn't understand her intentions.
Tiamat's grin widened, and she waved her long sleeves around. "Then, let me experiment on the knights Momo-chan!"
She hadn't tried anything other than teleportation within Nazarick and cooking, which had nothing to do with her character skills. Most of her abilities were passive, which meant that she needed someone to test the extent of her powers.
More importantly, she had to know whether her Defensive skills worked as well as they did in YGGDRASIL.
Momonga nodded, finally understanding her objectives. Tiamat had figured he would also want to play around with his skills, but it would be safer if she were the one to go out instead. If her defensive abilities worked in this world, then it would mean that Momonga would also be able to use any skills he wanted on her since she would not receive any substantial damage over it.
He sighed softly, twiddling around with the mirror to look over the village.
"『Extend Magic - True Appraisal』."
"Well, considering their levels, I don't think you'll have any problems. So do what you want Hannah-san. I'll notify you on the locations of the surviving villagers and update you on possible enemy reinforcements through 『Message』."
"Hai! Thanks Momo-chan." Since her new body's temperature was higher, the water that clung to her dress and hair had already evaporated. She then swapped her simple outfit to her Red Empress Hanfu Dress that she usually equipped as well as making sure that she hid her horns and tail since she was going to a human village.
"Sebas, inform Albedo next door to put Nazarick on maximum alert, after that, Yuri will follow Tiamat. Also, ask Albedo to prepare support units just in case Tiamat is unable to retreat. The units must be adept at stealth or have the ability to go invisible."
Sebas bowed as he received his order. "I understand Lord Momonga, but I wish to request the task of defending Lady Tiamat to me."
"That's fine, any of you will do. Then, Yuri can relay my order to Albedo."
"I understand, My Lord." Yuri then immediately left the room to pass on Momonga's order.
Momonga kept switching the image on the mirror until he finally landed it on two girls, presumably sisters, as the older one was leading the younger one away from the knights.
"Shall we go, Sebas? Afterall..." Tiamat's voice trailed off, looking at Sebas. His eyes carried a heavy weight of determination, and for some reason at that very moment Sebas reminded her of Touch Me-san. "Saving someone in trouble is common sense. Right, Sebas?"
She could hear Momonga who was sitting beside her sharply inhale despite lacking the need to breathe. He may have lost his empathy as an undead, but he still valued his friends.
Both of them owe it to Touch Me-san afterall. Without him, they wouldn't have got where they were.
"As you've said, My Lady," Sebas agreed with her.
"Now then, we'll get going Momo-chan. I'll be back before you know it!" Tiamat pulled out a bamboo coolie hat with black veil draping from its rim out of a black-purple rift. Even though the hat had no defensive qualities, it provided her with a modicum of anti-divination protection. As a dragon heteromorph, she couldn't really equip anything better anyways, due to the race's heavy equipment restrictions.
"『Gate』."
As she stepped through the gap in reality, the scenery changed to what she had seen in the mirror.
The two girls who were running away were now huddled together. The older one, in an act of desperation, tried to protect the younger one by bracing her back towards the knight. Before he could swing his sword towards the older girl, Tiamat stood in front of the sword.
『High-Tier Physical Immunity V』a skill that nullified all physical attacks below level 80. Many advanced tank classes had granted this skill back in YGGDRASIL. Tiamat was relying on this particular skill to trigger in response to the knight's sword strike.
Sadly, the sword didn't even get to touch her, and before it could have landed anywhere near her, Sebas had thrown a small pebble at the knight's head. Although the knight was wearing a helmet, his head still burst at the small but powerful impact.
Shocked by the instantaneous death of his teammate, the rest of the knights trembled in fear. They even forgot to point their swords in front of them. One of them, the one closest to the knight who just died, buckled his knees and fell on his butt
She could smell the stench of urine coming from him.
"Six fully equipped knights chasing down two little girls? Disgusting," she commented. She hadn't felt much empathy for the villagers in the beginning, but seeing them suffering right before her eyes reminded her of some scenes from her past.
"A woman, and a... butler?" one of the guards incredulously muttered under his breath. The whole detachment was still shocked by their sudden appearance.
To be honest, she was not that terrified of these knights. There were things far scarier and more traumatizing than a bunch of pathetic men swinging their swords at unsuspecting weak girls.
Tiamat looked over at the two girls and her eyes softened at the sight. The little one was beyond terrified as she continued hugging her sister around the waist while the elder sister just confusedly looked at her and Sebas, wondering why they came to their rescue.
To be perfectly honest, she had no desire to tarnish the innocence of these girls with violence, but a head did just explode in front of them.
Tiamat clenched her teeth at the thought.
What to do... what to do?
If she used Phobos Ambience, the girls could get caught up in it as well. She also didn't want to order Sebas since it could get messy, and she definitely didn't want to further traumatize these children.
"Who are you?!" desperately asked one of the braver knights.
Tiamat lifted her veil to glance at the one yelling knight clearly. When her glowing violet eyes met his, he fell to the ground as he erupted into purple flames, screaming until his heart stopped beating.
"Goodness..." she immediately let go of the veil in her hands and let it cover her eyes again. "I didn't know that you knights were so weak that you've even died from a 4th-tier passive magic,『Asmodeus's Gaze』."
"D-demon!"
"Me? Demon?" she questioned, tilting her head, pretending to be confused. "Wouldn't that be you, who massacred innocent villagers? Aren't you the very demon who takes up arms against weak children?" she rebutted as she stared down at the rest of the knights.
Suddenly, she heard two beeps in her head as she received a『Message』from Momonga.
[It seems that a group of mages have encircled the village. You need to escape, Hannah-san, we have no idea what they're capable of.]
[Noted.]
[...]
[What?]
[Are you not retreating?] Momonga asked incredulously.
[Don't worry Momo-chan, they died instantly from 4th-tiered magic. A passive ability too. I should be able to handle them.] Tiamat confidently replied.
[Hah…just be careful, alright?] Momonga wearily gave in.
[I will. See you later Momo-chan~!] she cut off the 『Message』.
Tiamat focused back on the knights before her.
Well, since she was here to use these knights as test subjects, what other skills should she use?
Should she try summoning?
"Check for damages and then cover their eyes," she ordered Sebas.
"Understood," Sebas moved towards the two girls.
The two girls continued to tremble. Tiamat really couldn't blame them. They were probably thinking that they would hurt them just like the knights. Nothing good could come from trusting a stranger.
"『Spawn of Bahamut』." A mid-tier summoning skill that allowed her to summon up to ten Wyverns or three Young Dragons once per day. She decided to summon three Young Dragons, since those were obviously cooler.
The eyes of the knights widened in fear as they all took a step back in terror.
"So you can chase after young girls but not someone who can fight back, is that it?" Tiamat sneered at them. At this point, they started running away towards the village, probably trying to rally together.
Tiamat looked at the three Young Dragons she had summoned. They were red baby Dragons, and their yellow eyes looked at her in wonder and amazement.
'Waaaaaah, they're so cute!' she inwardly squealed.
They made purring noises similar to a cat's, but louder. It was more of a growl, but the softness of it prevented it from being mistaken for aggression.
The rest of the knights ran away at the sight of the dragons.
She wondered if this was how that old TV show character felt when she had her baby dragons.
'What was it called? Game…? Game of Chairs?'
She shook herself out of her reminiscing. She had to check if her babies could understand simple commands and differentiate targets. "Children, attack the knights and protect the villagers," Tiamat ordered them.
They growled again in excitement and almost immediately flapped towards the direction where the knights had been running off to.
As soon as the baby dragons were gone, she heard the sound of screaming in the distance and with her enhanced sight, she saw that they were indeed attacking the knights and protecting the villagers.
Such great children!
"My Lady," Sebas notified. "I have checked the two human girls for injuries. So far, they only have bruises and nothing life threatening."
Tiamat nodded, thankful for the information. "Thank you, Sebas."
She kneeled in front of the two girls, making sure that Asmodeus Gaze was disabled before lifting her veil so that they could see her better.
"Are you girls alright?" she asked softly.
After they had time to study her face, their shoulders slackened and relaxed. Then they started to whimper and cry loudly. They must've been really scared.
Truly, she pitied them.
Children should receive a lot of love and care. To know and understand that these girls would have to grow up a lot faster than other children because of this incident pained her heart.
Tiamat pulled the girls in a tight embrace.
"It's alright, it's okay, you're safe now," she assured them. But her kind words only made them cry harder. They were not in pain, but relieved. Relieved that they could live to see another day, and she understood that.
"T-thank you, kami-sama," said the little one, as she wiped her tears with her chubby hands.
Knowing that they needed some time for themselves, Tiamat let go of the girls. "『Light Healing』." A 1st-tier healing spell that mended mild injuries.
The girls were covered with a warm green light and Tiamat watched in fascination as the bruises on their arms and legs slowly faded away.
"『Avernus Sanctuary』." A yellow-red sphere enveloped the two girls. "This is a protective barrier. Stay here and you'll be safe. Don't go out of the sphere, okay?"
Both girls nodded, still holding each other.
"I'll fetch you later, so both of you be good girls and stay, alright?" After making sure that both of them understood, Tiamat stood up and turned to the direction of the village. "Let's go, Sebas."
"Yes, My Lady."
Right as they turned to head towards the village, Tiamat picked out the faint sound of the girls thanking her. She turned around to give them a small smile and left.
Not long after, Sebas and her arrived at the village.
"My Lady, allow your humble servant to handle these scum."
"Hmmm, thank you for your offer Sebas, but I kind of want to see my summons in action. Let's go hide ourselves in the meanwhile."
After saying that, the two sat back and observed the dragonlings in action.
It was safe to say that Tiamat was very proud of her three children.
Their mighty roars shattered the air and for the knights, it signalled their death.
One after the other, the armored knights fell down, either dismantled like a chicken by their jaws that bit and claws that caught, or burned by their fearsome breath. Moreover, any knight who attempted to approach a villager was bitten, thrown into the air, before falling down with a crack as one of the dragonlings stomped their head into a paste.
The Young Dragons roared again with joy. As if to say 'We did this, we did it!'
Tiamat looked on dispassionately.
'Why don't I feel anything?'
The knights may have been the aggressors, but even still, real flesh and blood humans were getting torn to pieces before her.
So why did she feel perfectly fine with it?
Tiamat pushed the thought out of her head.
'I can worry about that later. For now, I need to make sure all the filth dies,' she focused back on observing.
The knights were trained to fight in any situation, but their swords did nothing to the tough leathery skin of the Dragonlings. If the dragonlings only had tough skin, they would not have had so much trouble, but the infernal beasts also bore sharp teeth, nails, and each was almost three times bigger than a knight. Despite their size, they were nimble, and if a knight aimed for their wings, they simply jumped or swiped them away with their tail.
When they managed to rip apart the one that kept grating their ears with his cries, they cackled in delight, as if to savor the despair and terror of the pitiful humans who were like bugs before them.
The Baby Dragons were clearly toying with the knights. Each swipe, bite, and stomp was playful. To them, it was funny how the humans were so much more weaker than them.
Even the Captain has ordered the rest of the knights to protect him.
"I'm not someone to die here! All of you hurry up and protect me! Be my shield!"
But of course, nobody had moved to such a selfish request. They were too busy saving their own lives.
"How pathetic," Tiamat muttered out loud.
"Indeed," Sebas agreed with her. "Their movements have no power or grace. Furthermore, for the Captain to ask his subordinates to save himself is the lowest of the low," a shadow crossing his expression.
How pitiable, they were chewed by Dragons while they were still alive, and then in death, they were chewed again by Sebas's statement.
In the end, there were only a few knights left.
"That's enough children," Tiamat's soft voice rang clearly throughout the area below. She undid her invisibility scroll and slowly descended onto the earth, her dress and veil fluttering in the wind. Sebas fell down onto the grass first before offering her his hand to take so that she could regain her balance.
The Baby Dragons flew into a flurry of excitement upon hearing her voice, and they threw away the body of the Captain to run towards her.
Tiamat opened both of her arms to embrace the Baby Dragons who slammed into her, petting their heads as they knocked her to the ground. Their foreheads rubbed against her body, and the whole clearing could clearly hear the sound of happy growls.
In an instance, the surviving knights became even more on guard. The Dragons were scary, but the one who could control them would be downright terrifying.
"Greetings everyone," Tiamat stopped petting them and took a step forward so that the Dragonlings were behind her. "I am Hannah Annafelowz of Ainz Ooal Gown."
Everybody just stared at her in mute shock.
"If you throw down your swords and surrender, I will guarantee you your lives, but if you still want to fight-"
One by one the rest of the knights threw away their swords to surrender. A total of four blades were thrown to the ground.
"My, aren't you all eager. Very well. In exchange for your lives, you will go back to your Masters to tell them this. So listen well," she walked towards one of the knights and stared at him dead in the eyes.
"This land is now protected under my name and the name of Ainz Ooal Gown. If you make anymore trouble after this, I will guarantee the downfall of your country."
The knight in front of her nodded as hard as he could. Clearly, he wanted to get out of this place as soon as possible.
For a few minutes, they did not do anything but stare at her.
"What are you doing? Do you still want to play with my children?"
They jerked their bodies and ran away as fast as possible.
"Oh my, I forgot something Sebas," Christ, this haughty act was getting tiring, but it would be better if she could make a statement so that they wouldn't come back ever again.
The callousness with which she treated the death of the knights still unsettled her.
"My Lady," he responded.
"How many messengers does it take to pass a message?"
"At least one, My Lady."
"So we only need one right?" she confirmed with Sebas, forcing herself to smirk. "Children~ you can snack on one knight each. No more than that or else you'll get a stomachache, okay?"
The Baby Dragons growled happily and immediately flapped their wings towards the knights of their choosing to munch on them. Their screams were muffled inside the Baby Dragons' mouth.
The one that survived ran away even faster.
Tiamat sighed internally. That was one problem down.
She looked at the rest of the villagers and saw the confusion and unease on their faces. Instead of being happy that they were saved from those horrible knights, somehow it felt like that one quote:
"Out of the frying pan and into the fire," she muttered under her breath.
The knights did brutally massacre the villagers, but she had proven herself to be far stronger than those knights.
Now how to approach the situation…
"You're alright now, so be at ease," Tiamat gently mentioned to the villagers, taking off her hat and passing it to Sebas.
"Y-you..." one of the villagers tried to muster up some words, but he was too scared to say anything in front of the woman who had human eating baby dragons at her beck and call. His eyes kept on sliding towards the Baby Dragons who were still munching on the remains of the knights.
"It's alright, these children are mine. I promise you they won't do anything to harm you."
As soon as she said that, a bunch of exhales of relief were blown out.
'Not that I can really blame them… Man-eating dragons would put anyone on edge.'
An elderly man and an old lady that was presumably his wife stepped forward towards her. "Thank you very much for saving this village. In our present state, we-we don't have much, but please take anything you need," he offered. Him and his wife bowed gratefully.
"Well, we can discuss that later. More importantly, I saved two sisters and left them in the forest. I will go bring them here, and then we can negotiate. Will you wait for me here?"
"Yes, gladly!" they said, bowing again.
"Then, please collect those who are hurt in a house so that I can take a look at them later. Also, let us prepare a proper burial for the rest of the villagers," Tiamat said, turning back towards the forest.
Soon after the village chief started giving orders while she and Sebas walked towards the forest with the Baby Dragons trailing behind her footsteps.
After Tiamat fetched the girls and brought them to the town square, the chief and his wife invited her and Sebas to their lovely home. It was very old and very small; the furniture and walls were moldy and it seemed like the house would fall over any time soon.
The very definition of poverty. She could relate.
After negotiating with the chief, Tiamat agreed that they would give her a sum of money. But her main goal here was to collect information. Maps, titles, lands, political structure of the country, social structure, economic structure, down to the local governance like local vegetables, even down to the food they served on the table.
They gave her a map that detailed the entire continent. The village they were currently at was called Carne Village and was a part of Re-Estize Kingdom, located on the border between the Re-Estize Kingdom and the Baharuth Empire. Both the Kingdom and the Empire were Monarchies, although the Empire had undergone a great change in their political system by massacring many nobles of the country.
Next, she asked about money. Money was divided into three types of coins: copper, silver, and gold.
They three standards of currency were then divided through standardized mass. The price of one gold coin was equal to the mass of the silver coins, and the price of one silver coin was equal to the mass of copper coins.
Their sources of food were mostly potatoes, carrots, and the resources from the Great Forest of Tob. When asked about their cooking, the chief and his wife sheepishly explained that they didn't do much cooking in the village.
The villagers usually just boiled their food with water to create soup. They didn't eat farm animals since farm animals were far too precious; chickens provided eggs while cows provided milk.
Since they were a small village, they didn't know much aside from the history of the village as well as the passing gossip from merchants or traveling doctors. Even still, Tiamat felt that this was plenty of information to go by.
The knights who had attacked the village wore the Baharuth Empire's armor, and the chief suspected the Empire to be the culprits since the relations between the two were getting worse, causing an annual war between the Kingdom and the Empire. Moreover, to the south, there was a country called the Slane Theocracy, which was also close to Carne Village.
'Ah… I should've saved one of them for questioning. It's not impossible that some third party is trying to create conflict between the Kingdom and the Empire.'
After pondering this tidbit for a moment, Tiamat gestured for the chief to continue.
The chief explained that there was a fortress city, called E-Rantel, which was the biggest city in the area and the best place to gather information.
As it turned out, E-Rantel actually had an adventurer's guild. So if anyone from YGGDRASIL landed in this world, they would surely have gone there. Tiamat thought going there could be promising.
Even though they had paid her with information, they still wanted to pay her with money for saving the girls and securing the surviving villagers before it was too late. They did mention that they didn't have enough to pay her right away, so in exchange, she asked them to teach her how to read, as well as the common sense of the continent as the rest of the payment.
They felt like the payment she had requested was too little, but for her this was more than enough.
However, she did ask for their aid sometime later in the future, to which they immediately agreed.
As soon as they had finished negotiating and exchanged information as well as payment, Sebas who was standing outside the house immediately led her towards the main hall where most of the wounded were laid.
Tiamat didn't want to reveal too much to the villagers, but since she had healed the bruises of both of those girls, the least she could do was heal what she could through『Light Heal』. The rest of the villagers whose wounds were too heavy to heal using 1st-tier magic would simply die.
'But… they're people who need help. Help that only I can give…'
As sympathy for the villagers flowed through her, a bestial voice rumbled in her subconscious.
'Why? Why would we help inferior beings for nothing? We've already done more than enough.'
Tiamat blinked her eyes. Why should she care? These villagers held no value for Nazarick, and drawing even more attention to herself could lead to further problems later on.
As Momonga had said, the current situation no longer held any merit for them. She had gotten to experiment with a wide array of skills, and in return she saved the remaining villagers who were not maimed by the knights for the information she had received.
Anyways, resurrecting people wasn't even possible for her build.
But even if she could, why would she do that?
For them,『Light Heal』was already like a miracle. It would be easy to guess which one would be more bothersome. A lady who saved the village, or a lady who resurrected the dead.
If they had more things to offer as payment, she would probably go back to Nazarick for a 『Resurrection』scroll. They had plenty of trash fifth-tier scrolls to spare.
Truly, the village had nothing to offer them. They died to the first slash of the sword.
The humans here were weak and feeble.
Her lips curved downwards.
'Why am I thinking like this? Didn't I use to be human just a few hours ago?'
Despite her conflicted feelings, Tiamat hoped that at least the people of this continent would all be this weak, so that Momonga could have a peace of mind, even for a short while.
As she continued healing their bruises, one of the villagers informed the rest of the village that the burial preparations had been completed. Most of them excused themselves as she assured them that no one was holding them back.
Tiamat took a look at the more injured villagers. One had a particularly vicious cut from his shoulder to hips while another had three stab wounds in his stomach.
She took a step towards them.
'Are you really going to waste mana on these flesh bags?'
"I don't know why I'm thinking like this, and honestly, as long as Nazarick is safe I don't really mind," Tiamat put her hand on a more injured villager, "But I'll be damned if I turn into those shitbags back on Earth."
"『Full Cure』."
(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡
Soon after she finished healing the rest of the villagers, she spectated the burial ceremony together with Sebas and the Baby Dragons.
"What do you think, Sebas?"
"I think we are done here, My Lady. Excellent job, as expected. Your servant Sebas stands in awe of your prowess."
Tiamat sighed, leaning against a big tree that was quite far from the burial ceremony. Since they were both Dragons, well Draconian in Sebas's case, they had no trouble looking over the ceremony from such a distance. "You don't have to go that far, Sebas. I do apologize for taking some time with my decisions," One of the baby dragons nuzzled her stomach while the other two played by themselves behind them.
My, such needy children. She didn't mind though.
"There is no need to apologize, but it's true that saving the village did take some time. Would you like to take a break, My Lady?"
"No there is no need for that, as you know, Dragons have pretty good stamina. What about you Sebas? If you're tired or fatigued you can take a break."
"Thank you for your kindness, but it would be unwise for a butler such as I to rest while you are still working. With the magic items given to me by Touch Me-sama, I won't be affected by fatigue. Do allow me to stay by your side for today, My Lady."
As she agreed to his request, she could hear the wails of the two girls who had lost their parents as well as the faint smell of salt carried by the wind.
Tiamat continued to focus on one of the children she had summoned, and petted him until the ceremony was over.
Resurrecting them held no merit. She had already healed everyone she could to the best of her capabilities.
They had nothing else to offer. She had already done more than enough.
So why did her eyes feel so damp?
(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡
When Gazef Stronoff arrived at Carne village, he expected the place to be desolate, completely destroyed, and filled with the stench of blood and rotting corpses.
But instead he found the village mostly intact with many of the villagers working together to repair the damaged buildings.
Amongst the villagers he could see two strangers, surrounded by three small dragons. They circled around the red-haired woman, as if protecting her from harm, while she lightly patted their heads.
The dragonlings seemed to bask in her attention.
She wore a dress that looked very unfamiliar to the Kingdom, Empire, or even the Theocracy. Her dress was layered, with white at its base, gold embroidery woven throughout the clothing, and a loose red see-through version of the same dress on the outside.
The elaborate outfit complimented her long fiery hair that cascaded from her neck to her back, and her amethyst eyes shone gently like a gem under the moonlight.
Even from afar, she stood out from other brown and blond haired villagers. Her movements were poised and graceful, even more graceful than the nobles he had seen in the Kingdom.
Her beauty could not be compared to the Golden Princess, for the Golden Princess possessed an aura that conveyed purity, kindness, and honesty.
But this woman was different.
The stranger held a different kind of aura compared to the small Princess. She looked gentle, compassionate, and wise beyond her age. If he were to be perfectly honest with himself, she looked like a Goddess.
Behind her, she was accompanied by a white haired butler that was dressed in a traditional butler uniform. He may have looked gentle, but his eyes were as sharp as an eagle, and Gazef had felt his gaze ever since he landed his eyes on the Red Goddess.
When he approached the Chief of the village, the Chief and the rest of the villagers bowed in respect, doubting their very sight as he rode his horse towards them.
"The Kingdom's Warrior Captain, Gazef Stronoff." the Chief called him by his title in awe.
"Good afternoon, you must be the Chief of this village," he greeted the old man. "Could you introduce me to this person beside you?"
Before the Chief could say anything, the woman took a step forward and introduced herself.
"Pleased to meet you, Warrior Captain Gazef Stronoff," She tilted her head. "I am Hannah Annafelowz of Ainz Ooal Gown. I was traveling with my companion Sebas when we saw this village being attacked mercilessly by knights, so we came to their rescue."
As he approached her, the butler's stance became more rigid, prepared to attack him at a moment's notice.
But his eyes were still glued on her presence. She was not like any of the maidens he had seen in the Kingdom or even the Empire. Her beauty was unparalleled and her voice soft and inviting. Most importantly, aside from her appearance she must also have possessed a kind and gentle heart, for she had saved the village.
Not to mention the DRAGONS lazily rolling at her feet.
Truly, this woman was a Goddess.
As she held his gaze, he felt like his entire existence was being judged on a pair of scales.
He immediately dismounted from his horse, and bowed deeply on the ground. He saw the butler give a subtle nod of approval.
"Thank you for saving this village, I have no words that can adequately phrase your generosity."
The air seemed to tremble.
The Warrior-Captain was the most prominent man in the kingdom, save for the king himself. It was quite shocking that such a man would bow and scrape before a stranger like her, in a world where people were so clearly divided amongst each other.
One could tell Gazef's character from the way he readily dismounted and bowed to her despite their difference in status.
Soon after, one of his troops ran into the square. He was panting heavily, and had an urgent report. In a high-pitched voice, his comrade yelled. "Warrior-Captain! We've sighted a lot of people around the village! They've surrounded the village and they're closing in!"
(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡
Tiamat peeked out from the abandoned church to observe the outskirts of the village.
From what she could see, there was a group of at least twenty people. There were slowly advancing towards the village while maintaining a small distance between each other.
But they didn't wear any armor like the knights. Although that didn't mean that their clothes weren't enchanted, she had absolutely no clue as to their capabilities unless she used 『Appraisal』 on them.
However, the clothes on their backs was the last thing to worry about.
It was the winged monsters behind them.
Archangel Flames, a 3rd-tier summon that mainly kited around enemies with their swords while flitting around in mid-air. They were definitely Angels from YGGDRASIL. Even though they were just low leveled monsters, the fact still remained that they were from the game.
Gazef watched them from her side while Sebas stood behind her. The dragon children were all playing around outside the church. "So, who are they Warrior-Captain Gazef? What do they want? I don't think there is anything precious in the village for them to take."
"You don't know either Lady Hannah?" he looked at her in shock. She bit her cheek in helplessness. How was she supposed to know? "Well, if it's not you they seek, there must only be one thing."
Tiamat met his gaze in understanding.
The knights were actually from the Slane Theocracy, not the Baharuth Empire. They were using the Empire's armor to mislead the Kingdom into thinking that the atrocities were committed by the Empire.
What for?
To assassinate Gazef Stronoff, the strongest man in the Kingdom.
'Think…'
After they had finished massacring the whole village, what would the knights do?
They would stay hidden and out of sight.
Then Gazef who received orders from the Kingdom to eradicate knights from enemy countries, even going as far as to visit from the front-lines, would go to the village only to see it empty and littered with corpses. But before he would realize that it was a trap, he was going to be ambushed from both inside and outside the village.
He must've been a thorn on both the Kingdom and the Theocracy's sides. Even the Kingdom, where he swore his allegiance to, sent him away to his death.
Tiamat made a mental note to mark both of those countries as dangerous.
"My, my, they must really hate you Gazef-dono. Must be hard being the strongest man in the Kingdom," she jabbed at him.
His eyes widened, as if he didn't expect her, a stranger, to figure it out.
"It comes with the job of Warrior-Captain. However… this is troubling," he shrugged, looking again into the distance. "Judging by the way the other side has so many people who can summon angels, they must be from the Slaine Theocracy, and it's clear that the people carrying out this operation must be a special operations unit: the legendary Six Scriptures. It would seem that both in numbers or ability, the opposition is superior to us."
Tiamat could hear him heave a small sigh, indicating the difficulty he was in. He might have seemed merely depressed on the surface, but she could tell that he was seething with anger and panic.
How could he still be so loyal to his Kingdom, even when he knew that he was being betrayed?
She looked again at the Archangel Flames in the distance surrounding the church, offering him no escape.
This is where she came to a realization.
Truly, the man in front of her was amazing indeed.
He knew that he was surrounded, but even still, he made sure that the villagers were safe. He didn't use the villagers as bait to lure the special operation unit away. If he wanted to, he could have just escaped as quickly as possible back to the Kingdom by exchanging his armor with one of the villagers.
There were only about twenty people outside; they wouldn't be able to cover so much ground.
He came knowing he was going to die that day.
'Seriously amazing...'
Tiamat glanced behind her seeing Sebas, standing against the wall, most likely thinking how they should return to Nazarick. She had also received reports from Sebas earlier that the Eight-Edged Assassin had already arrived with reinforcements and were prepared to kill the villagers and even the special units to whisk them away back to Nazarick.
But that would be a waste of her efforts.
She had already sent a warning to one of the soldiers who was probably on his way to Slaine Theocracy. If they were to find out that everyone and everything had been destroyed, it would paint the names Hannah Annafelowz and Ainz Ooal Gown in an unsightly light.
Tiamat had given them the message to warn their Masters to not harm the village. It would be strange for the one who saved the village to also be the one who massacred them.
There was no choice but to defeat the special units, huh?
What did she just get herself into?
She had thought they were just gonna save a village, collect information, then go back to Nazarick.
Sadly, things turned out to be much more troublesome that what they needed to be.
Tiamat sighed and looked at the ceiling.
She wanted to play with Aura and Mare, she wanted to cook, she wanted to sleep…
She wanted to go back.
Tiamat felt the Warrior-Captain's gaze on her and turned towards him. His eyes shone with hope as he said, "Lady Hannah, if it's alright with you, I would like to hire you."
Sebas who stood behind her was seething in anger, his gaze cold and sharp, as if the Warrior in front of her had insulted her. But the Warrior remained oblivious.
"Please name your price and I will meet it, no matter how much," he pleaded.
Sebas quickly answered on her behalf. "I would have to refuse, Warrior-Captain. My Lady's services are much more expensive than what you could probably afford," Sebas walked towards the warrior and stopped in front of her, as if to shield her from Gazef-dono.
"Even loaning one of the Dragons that you have will also be fine," he said, sounding even more desperate.
Sebas stood even straighter. "You have to be aware, Warrior-Captain. My Lady saved the village and healed the injured out of the kindness of her heart. A duty which is supposed to be your job, Warrior-Captain."
'Thank you so much Sebas! Now we can get back home faster!'
"I see..." Gazef closed his eyes in understanding, "then what if I ordered you in accordance to the Kingdom's laws?"
Sebas's eyes held a horrifying gaze. "Then that would be the worst decision you could possibly make. If you keep on insisting, I would have to put up a little bit of resistance."
Her eyes landed on a group of eight-edged assassins hidden on the ceiling above Gazef Stronoff, ready to take his neck at any given time when commanded to.
Before things could escalate, she laid her hand gently on Sebas's shoulder. After a brief stare down between the butler and the warrior, Sebas complied and went beside her.
"You are mistaken, Gazef-dono," Tiamat casually responded. "Even if you ordered us to comply in accordance with your country's law, your law won't be able to bind us since we are not citizens of the Re-Estize Kingdom. I am merely a wandering traveler. Therefore, you won't be able to use any of your rank, status, or political power to move me," she smiled at him, far from finished. "Moreover, as my esteemed butler had mentioned, if you keep on insisting to use your power to conscript me then I will have to defend myself."
Tiamat had slightly bristled at his suggestion to force her into submission through the Kingdom's laws.
That was why she returned it back to him two fold.
Gazef looked at her wordlessly, as she held his gaze. His brown eyes were determined, and he looked like he wasn't the type to easily back down.
But she was also the same. More importantly, she hated being coerced into something she didn't want to do.
That was why Gazef was the first one to avert his gaze to look back at the Archangel Flames.
He gave a small chuckle at her reply. "You call it self-defense, but wouldn't be a frightening massacre? We would be eaten by your Dragons before we could even cross blades with the gentlemen from the Slane Theocracy."
"Glad you could understand," Tiamat let out a small laugh, and before he could notice, she signaled the eight-edged assassin to move away from the Warrior-Captain.
Damn, that was dangerous. If she hadn't stopped Sebas fast enough, another head would have went flying.
Gazef looked at her shooing something from behind him, but when he turned around, he found nothing. Then he narrowed his eyes and nodded, albeit dejected that he wasn't able to recruit the strange lady to his side.
"Well then, Lady Hannah, please take care of yourself. You too 'esteemed Butler-san'," And before she knew it, he knelt in front of her, removed his metal gauntlet, and took her right hand. "Once again, thank you for saving the village, Lady Hannah."
Tiamat could feel his lips on the back of her hand, and when she was thinking of slowly sliding her hand away from his kiss, his hand held hers even tighter, "I am truly, truly grateful to you for protecting these innocent villagers from being slaughtered. Also, I know it is very selfish of me and I have no authority to make you do anything..." he said.
'I swear, if he doesn't let go now…!'
Although he treated her hand with great gentleness and care, Tiamat wanted nothing more but for him to let go. "But I hope you can protect the villagers here, just one more time. Right now, I have nothing to give you, but I hope that no matter what, you will heed my plea… I beg you."
"Warrior-Captain!" Sebas chided. "You are acting discourteously towards Lady Hannah!"
She raised her left hand to stop Sebas. If this went on, Sebas would've cut off his hand. "Sebas, I'll handle this..." she sighed.
Her gaze returned to the Warrior-Captain who was kneeling in front of her.
"Should you ever visit the Royal Capital, I will give anything you desire. I promise in the name of Gazef Stronoff," he persisted.
Tiamat touched his shoulder with her left hand, subtly slipping away her other hand from his grip at the same time, "Please Gazef-dono, you don't have to go that far. I promise you that the villagers will be protected. I swore in my name and the name of Ainz Ooal Gown."
After hearing her swear on her name, the Warrior breathed a sigh of relief. He stood up from his kneeling position. "Thank you very much, Lady Hannah. Now I have nothing to worry about. All I need to do is to charge boldly ahead."
"I understand, and I wish you the best of luck," she smiled gently at him. This man had truly decided to die there.
"And I wish you a safe journey home, Lady Hannah," he then turned around to leave the abandoned church, and before long, Tiamat heard the sound of horses galloping away from the village.
"Sebas?"
"My Lady," he quickly responded.
"Why is there an eight-edged assassin here?" she questioned.
"I brought him over because he wanted to pay his respects to you, My Lady."
"Oh, how refreshed my soul is whenever I see Lady Tiamat!"
'Cringe.'
She was not an air purifier, and wasn't refreshing like one either. Furthermore how does one refresh a soul?!
"Oh... I'm grateful for the compliment. Are you part of the support troops?"
"Yes, there are a total of fifteen eight-edged assassins who stand ready to receive your orders!"
Tiamat nodded in acknowledgement. Fifteen was more than enough.
"What are we going to do next, My Lady?" Sebas asked.
The Dragoness let out a toothy grin at Sebas, "I've booked a great seat for a show. All we have to do is to sit back and enjoy the show provided to us by the Stronger Warrior-Captain in the Kingdom."
"I see, but before we go, it seems that I have to teach you a few lessons regarding men, My Lady."
"Eh?"
Turns out Sebas had objected to the way the Warrior-Captain had acted towards her. Sebas then proceeded to lecture her for five straight minutes.
'Why did you have to make Sebas so similar to you Touch Me-san!'
(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡
He could not accept this kind of ending.
Blood dribbled from the side of Gazef's mouth as he rose to his feet.
A man who should have been powerless to stand now stood proudly, the mighty force of his presence forcing back the angels that surrounded him.
Just getting to his feet had him panting heavily. His mind was a blur and his body felt like it had turned to mud. But he could not lie down. If he lied down, all would be lost.
This little bit of pain he felt could not compare to the suffering of the villagers who lost their loved ones.
"I am the Warrior-Captain of the Re-Estize Kingdom! I am a man who loves and defends his country! How can I lose to bastards like you who stain my country with your footsteps—?!"
He was certain that the Red Goddess would once again protect the villagers.
In that case, he should defeat as many enemies as he could, so that others would not meet the same fate as all the villagers already killed.
"...You will die here because all you can do is babble nonsense, Gazef Stronoff."
Gazef glared at the enemy commander as his cruel mockery reached his ears.
"If only you had abandoned these frontier villagers, you would not be dying here. You probably don't know, but your life is far more valuable than even a thousand of these peasants. If you truly love your country, you should have abandoned them to die."
Gazef simply stared straight ahead, his hands trembling as he gripped his sword. He focused on the enemy in front of him, ignoring the angels surrounding him.
"What a pointless effort. Truly, you are an idiot. After we kill you, we will massacre the villagers you saved. All you have done is bought them a fear filled stay of execution."
"Kuh. kuh... kuku..."
Gazef was laughing brightly.
"What's so funny?"
"Fools. In that village… there is someone who is stronger than me. Her power is unfathomable; she could take you all out by herself," he grinned. "Trying to kill the villagers she's protecting... is impossible for you."
"Someone stronger than the Kingdom's greatest warrior? Do you think boasting like that will do you any good? You truly are an idiot."
Gazef was still smiling. What kind of look would Nigun have on his face when he met that woman called Hannah Annafelowz? Seeing that would probably be the best gift Gazef could receive before heading off to the afterlife.
"Angels, kill Gazef Stronoff," Nigun ordered.
Countless wings moved in response to that cold, cruel order.
Gazef steeled himself, preparing to run forward, when suddenly a familiar gentle voice came from above him.
"Which scroll was it again? Ah! Found it.『Forced Teleportation』."
The scenery before Gazef changed, and he was no longer on that bloodsoaked plain. Instead, he was in the corner of what looked like a simple village hut.
There were worried-looking villagers all around him.
"This, this is..."
"This is a warehouse that Lady Hannah is protecting with her Dragons."
"You're the Chief..." then he looked around, still trying to catch his breath. "Lady Hannah does not seem to be here."
"No, after she cast a magic spell to protect the warehouse and left her Dragons here to guard, she said she would handle the enemies outside, Warrior-Captain-sama."
Gazef allowed himself to relax. He would have no part to play in what was coming next. Gazef collapsed to the ground, and the villagers hurriedly drew closer.
The Six Scriptures. They were an enemy that even Gazef Stronoff, the strongest warrior in the region, could not hope to defeat.
Yet, he could not even begin to imagine that the Goddess would lose.
(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡
A sudden golden light blinded the battlefield, startling the members of the Six Scripture. Then the light slowly died down, and Nigun's eyes familiarized him with the current view.
Before, the bodies of the Kingdom's Warrior Band were littered across the plains, and Gazef Stronoff was already on his knees waiting for his death. But instead of the bloody battlefield that he just saw, there were two strangers standing in front of him.
A red haired woman, a very rare shade of hair, he noted, who was dressed like one those easter nobles. On her head was a headpiece adorned with gold and rubies, insinuating that she was a person of status.
Behind her stood an old butler, wearing a pristine black outfit. His face was hidden by an evil looking mask. With a single glance he could tell that it was a high-end magic item.
Nigun was wary because it seemed that the two strangers teleported the soldiers as well as Gazef somewhere. But he had no idea who was the one who used magic between the two of them and what kind of magic was used.
Considering his options, he called the angels back, forming a defensive line, while he studied their movements. Before he knew it, the woman had stepped forward.
"I am pleased to meet you, people of the Slane Theocracy, I am Hannah Annafelowz of Ainz Ooal Gown," her gentle voice pierced through the clearing. Even so, Nigun couldn't help but feel a sinister aura behind the beautiful voice.
Nigun didn't respond as he tried to recall the name Annafellowz and Ainz Ooal Gown. There was no noble in the Kingdom, Empire, or even the Theocracy with that last name, and the name Ainz Ooal Gown didn't mean anything to him. It might have been an alias.
"This person behind me is my butler, Sebas. But our identities don't matter. I am here to make a deal with you. Will you give me a moment of your time?" the mysterious maiden who called herself Hannah continued.
Nigun raised his chin, indicating her to continue.
"Wonderful!" she exclaimed happily, clapping her hands together with joy. "Thank you for taking the time to listen to me. Then, I will start by making one thing clear to all you gentlemen."
"Stop dallying and get on with it!" Nigun screamed at her, frustrated that Gazef had escaped by the skin of his teeth, and that this woman was the cause of his failure.
"Of course!" she cleared her throat and with a loud voice she made a very bold statement towards the legendary Sunlight Scripture.
She smiled sweetly at them, just like how a mother would gaze at her beloved child. Her hair and dress flowed with the wind, giving her an ethereal appearance.
But her next sentence brought fear down to his core.
"Since it's impossible for you to defeat me, I have decided to kidnap all of you."
