Chapter 7: E-Rantel


A/N: Thank you to my Betas who works so hard to edit this chapter, I'm so thankful to have you people.


Two figures are sitting across from each other, the silence between them heavy with tension. One particular Dragoness was letting out a slight growl as she slouched against her sofa. She crossed her arms over her chest and let out a fierce glare in obvious defiance towards the seemingly apathetic undead in front of her . But the person, no, the Overlord in front of her did absolutely nothing but give her a deadpan stare straight into her furious draconic eyes.

Obviously, neither were willing to concede to the other.

As seconds stretched into minutes, Albedo began to fidget in the strained silence as she could only stand and watch until the last two Supreme Beings reached a consensus.

Finally, the Dragoness slams her hand against the table in frustration. "I told you before and I'll tell you as many times as I need to, until you get it into that thick, shiny skull of yours. Your idea of a 'bet' is unfair. Moreover, with those conditions, you already know that this is a battle that I can't win!"

Somehow she knows that the Overlord in front of her raised his invisible eyebrow as he slightly shook his hand in disagreement. "The point is not to win, but how it can be won."

"That doesn't even make any sense." She sighs again for what feels like the twelfth time already. "And how am I going to even have a chance with those conditions, which are clearly skewed in your favor?"

"That's for you to figure out." he shrugs.

The dragoness fumes again in exasperation, "Then at least make the conditions equally favorable for the both of us!"

"If I recall correctly, you were the one who insisted on waging a bet. I even recall you saying 'Any condition's fine Momo-chan! Stop being such a killjoy.' Hence I see no reason to yield my position. When it comes down to bets, I-"

"Never lose. Yeah, I heard you the first million times, killjoy. That's why no-one in the guild makes any bets with you anymore. You just twist them around and prepare sooooo much until you can't even lose. It's no fun, you know." Tiamat snarks back.

Another long pause stretches between them.

"Fine," Ainz relents. He has had enough of their banter, as entertaining as it was. "Then how about you disguise yourself as a Priestess; furthermore, you shall not use any of your draconic racial levels, because at this point we both know that your racial levels in such a low leveled environment are broken beyond common sense. However, you can still use your dragon summons. No more than one. I will be going in my Perfect Warrior disguise with Nabe."

"What? You're bringing Nabe-chan? How's that fair for me?!"

"The fact that you can summon a dragon isn't good enough? Mrs. 'I'll be as discreet as possible hence I'll summon a dragon'."

She looks at the two red pinpricks of light again, completely disagreeing with his statement. But sooner than he would've expected she replied. "Killjoy. Momo-chan, seriously? Just imagine having a massive dragon swoop down at the entrance of the city. Even though it would be awesome, I would have to be stupid to that!"

Truthfully, the whole situation had a high chance of being very disadvantageous to her.

First of all, she had very little knowledge of the adventurers' guild's system or even the world at large at this point, unlike Ainz who somehow already gathered a fair amount of intelligence. Was it from the Scripture captives? She might go visit Neuronist after all this brewed over. At the moment, all she had to go on was the knowledge she received from the Chief of Carne Village.

'Damn. He thought about this all the way through. Did he expect me to wage a bet? No wonder he accepted my proposal to a rank race as separate adventurers so quickly.'

Having her go to E-Rantel as a new adventurer would definitely spark a lot of problems and unwanted rumors. Rumors which she definitely would want to avoid after her mistake at Carne Village.

One lone adventurer accompanied by a dragon who did her bidding would definitely make her an instant target for a number of undesirable groups.

That was the least ideal situation to be in if she wanted to race through the ranks. Just thinking about the problems it would cause down the line gave her a headache. On the other hand, gaining instant fame as 'The Adventurer Who Commanded A Dragon' could bring in all sorts of opportunities for her.

Yes, she could very well be inviting an entire host of problems upon herself. But beating the guildmaster at his own game was far more important in her mind. For all she cared, she could disguise herself and become top adventurer first before simply vanishing and reappearing sometime later under a new disguise. There were dragon focused items which could change someone's looks until the user received damage. And from the looks of it, she doubted she would get hurt by anything short of the end of the world.

Secondly, her build mostly consisted of racial levels supplemented by a measly three job classes. The conditions of the bet prevented her from using any of her racial skills, with the exception being allowed one dragon summon to carry out her will.

Moreover, she was going to have to keep up appearances since she was going in as a Priestess. This meant that she could only support her dragons through buffs or passive skills. She only had a handful of healing spells she could only use a few times a day, and lacked any sort of offensive holy attacks. Her once per day Seraph Empyrean or Emperor Dragon were about her only summons, but both were impractical in how they could only be used, you know, once a day. And in Yggdrasil, where Heteromorphs and especially dragons were target PK'd around the clock, one battle per day was far too much to hope for.

Her ten level 25 dragonlings summon was as good as non-existent, not even a nuisance for level 100 players. So all she had going for her was insane durability, and the ability to reflect most damage.

On its own, it sounded overpowered but some level 75 prick with high agility would be practically invincible for her. Reflected damage was hard to aim and even someone with average agility who was paying attention could easily dodge it. So running in circles, or better, just having another person harass her from a distance could easily counter her seemingly impenetrable build.

In 1v1 PVP, if she had her high DPS summons and the enemy was unaware of her abilities, it would make her insanely dangerous. Hence the only reason Touch-Me lost so much HP before time expired. If the battle were to be repeated or continued any longer, Tiamat would have been slaughtered. No questions asked.

Touch Me was a good balance of tank and DPS dealer himself; his speed was good, and his damage output on point. But the fact that the summoned Seraph had an AOE spell, and that Tiamat was shielding the angel like a madman allowed to force the match into a battle of attrition. Her regeneration was a bit higher than Touch Me's, ultimately leading to her victory.

Another major factor was that the arena was tiny. Literally no-where on it could any player use the terrain to their advantage. So victory was...arguable, at best.

The World Championship in which Touch Me won was a multi-bracket event. He fought in a total of 13 battles that day. Tiamat would most likely win the 1st one, with ease. Her over the top once per day DPS summon guaranteed a balanced team of damage dealing and tanking with herself as the meatshield. But once the summondied or expires...well...she would be a living sandbag for the rest of the day.

She would be helpless to the point that even someone like Mare would have been able to kill her in the 2nd round.

She had 10 levels in Ascended Guardian which gave her about a dozen skills in the 'Warrior' category, which meant that if she was fully prepared and had a summon in the Arena , she could technically be considered amongst the top 10 strongest warriors.

For that single 15 minute long 1v1, she could even pull a surprise victory over Touch-Me. A loophole she exploited to earn World Champion before she got PK'd. A totally unfair and undeserved title, but hey, who was she to look a gift horse in the mouth. It's not like Yggdrasil was famous for 'balance' and 'fairness' anyways.

Tiamat shook the thoughts of PvP out of her head and turned her focus back to the Priestess disguise. The summoned dragon was a once per day gamble praying that her only enemy for the day only had mid-low agility, but since her dragons were now permanent, she didn't have to worry too much about lacking firepower throughout the day.

"Fine," she leans back on the sofa, much more relaxed that Ainz thought she would be. "I accept those terms. It's all just for fun anyways."

"Is it now?" Ainz agrees with her, the whole thing was just a way for them to spice things up a bit.

Moreover, with relatively little information at hand, it would be better for them to spread out rather than teaming up to collect the same information. True, there were risks in splitting up. There was a decent chance of other players existing in this world as well. Tiamat with her build and assist from her now permanent high level summon was a force to be reckoned with. Her defense was so off the charts it practically guaranteed an escape through [Gate] or [Greater Teleportation] to Nazarick. While disguised in [Perfect Warrior], Ainz's defense and resistances were second only to Tiamat and Gargantua, so he couldn't be one-shotted by anything short of a world item. A squad of guard Hanzos attached to both teams made it a bit of an overkill, but you could never be too cautious.

"Alright, so when do we begin?" She asks.

"I already made preparations, so I will go to E-Rantel in three days. That is when the official race begins."

"I see." Tiamat immediately stands up from the sofa and glances at her Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown to teleport back to her room. "Then I will begin making my preparations as well." she said as she vanished in a blue light.

"Good luck," Ainz stated. "To the both of us." The red flames on his nonexistent eyes are gleaming in satisfaction, and obvious excitement.

The view in front of her changes into the familiarity of her bedroom, and she notices Yuri standing there, waiting for her instructions.

"My Lady." Yuri bows.

After giving Yuri a quick nod, she sits down on the sofa and began plotting.

Ainz had been one competitive guy, a fact she should've taken into account when she decided to make a bet, and almost certainly would've ensured that the conditions wouldn't work in her favor.

She taps her nails on the table.

'What to do…'

She suddenly remembered Punitto Moe's strategy book: PKing for Dummies. One line in particular had always stuck with her.

"The battle is over before it begins." She mutters out loud.

An idea struck her like lightning. Tiamat's eyes lit up as she swiftly looked around the room.

"Yuri," she calls out to the Head Pleiades behind her. "Have you finished your work for today?" She asks.

"Yes My Lady. Is there anything you need?" Yuri quickly replies.

At this her grin widens, "Then do you mind taking a midnight stroll with me?"

Within a few minutes, Yuri finished her preparations. To be honest, Tiamat was just planning to go out on a walk to Azerlisia Mountains, the very mountain range that acts as a natural border between the Kingdom and the Empire. She saw bits of them from when she went sightseeing on her first night.

There's not enough information for her to know what kind of monsters are lurking around the mountains, and Yuri was sensible enough to prepare several magic scrolls for the impromptu walk. A dozen Hanzos were silently following them as guards. But those guys spoke so little they were as good as non-existent. Also, walking alone all night would have been hellishly boring.

Interestingly enough, one of the scrolls she prepared had been [Mass High Invisibility]. Just like its name implied, it could temporarily render the caster undetectable to conventional vision. It was a mere 5th tier spell, but it should do for this mission. The only reason she chose to use it was because if anything could see through it, they might be potentially worthy fodder, hence, useful for her plan.

"The preparations are all complete, My Lady." Yuri announces.

"Hn, good job Yuri. Then, shall we go?"

Yuri nods in affirmation, and Tiamat opens a [Gate] to travel to the first floor of Nazarick. She wants to take a more scenic route, as well as scout as far away as possible from the mountains, just in case.

The night around Nazarick was unnerving, but beautiful. It was quiet, unchanging, eerie, but beautiful nonetheless. The stars were twinkling against the dark sky, seemingly lighting up the way to the heavens. No matter how many times she had seen this since she arrived in the New World, she was still always mesmerized by its presence.

There was no sight like this back on Earth. The dust and the skyscrapers covered the sky, and the only thing that would even come close to this view would be through her VR. But for all of the polygons the game devs may have put into generating scenery, nothing could beat the real thing.

Tiamat and Yuri sent Hanzos all over the mountain range disguised with [High Invisibility] in advance. And even though no-one had spotted them, one of them reported something interesting.

'Perfect! I can definitely use those.'she thinks with a grin, seeing towering, blue humanoid figures. She couldn't believe her luck! Ainz wouldn't even know what hit him.

There was a lot of grey area in their bet. Since they were by default being dishonest about their nature by going under human disguises, she might as well exploit the loopholes in the bet as much as she could.

She couldn't wait to see his reaction to what she had planned for him, no, herself. But seeing as she only had three days, she had to hurry, since the mountain range was a bit far from E-Rantel, and she hasn't had a chance to set a teleportation checkpoint at E-Rantel.

She had a ton of work ahead of her, but as she thought of the massive payoffs, she couldn't help but break out into a huge grin.

"Let's go back Yuri. We have a lot of things to do."

"Yes, My Lady."

She leaves gleefully.

\(´◓Д◔`)/

The adventurer's guild was bustling as usual. People stood in line looking to register their quests, while adventurers lounged around in the lobby, waiting for their next job opportunity.

It was yet another hot and humid day inside the guild hall. A bit stinky even, as most of them worked in dire conditions and preferred to hang out in the lobby after hard sweaty missions.

But one particular thing was different this time.

A lone woman opened the door to the guild hall and immediately captured everyone's attention.

Although blond hair and blue eyes were a common staple in the Kingdom and the Empire, symbolizing nobles and royalty, silver hair was practically unheard of.

Moreover, the stark presence of amethyst mixed into her eyes was something that none of them had ever seen before.

Even stranger, she was clothed in a white dress, a color primarily used in weddings although her attire bore no resemblance to the dresses that nobles typically wore during such ceremonies. Still, it didn't change the fact that no woman in the Kingdom nor the Empire, regardless of their station in life, would ever want to wear a white colored dress for day to day use.

First and foremost, it was universally agreed upon that it was too much of a hassle to clean, and secondly, whites were generally reserved for ceremonial purposes.

Next, their eyes landed on her fingers. The sheer amount of otherworldly white metallic jewelry that the woman was wearing could only signify that she was among the wealthiest of nobles, perhaps rivaling King Rampossa himself.

One look at the woman and they could see that she was undoubtedly going to be an extremely high paying client.

The adventurers could only wait in eager anticipation.

However, some of them began to question their own analysis as their gaze landed upon the immaculate white staff with a floating sapphire orb on the top of it. The staff was an intricate piece of art, seemingly made out of a seamless immaculate alabaster wood, crackling and radiating with power beyond even that of the legendary Fluder Paradyne.

What kind of quest would this new beauty bring them? Maybe she desired to know the secrets behind that uniquely designed staff? Or perhaps something simpler like an escorting mission?

Confidently, she strolls over to the receptionist's desk.

"Excuse me," the woman says gently towards the receptionist, and the people's excitement skyrocketed as they leaned forward restless anticipation. Everyone went silent except for one particularly slow adventurer who continued boasting about his latest quest before someone stomped on his foot. Curiosity was a bitch.

"Yes, my lady. How may we assist you in this humble guild today." one particularly brave receptionist who was used to dealing with the nobility immediately replied to the silver haired woman. She curtsied properly, with skill befitting even a high noble's standards. "Would you perhaps want to place a request?"

The woman takes a deep breath, and none of them could believe their ears. "I would like to register as an Adventurer."

The murmuring and clattering of the Adventurers inside the guild filled the air at her bold statement.

However, the silver haired woman is unaffected and she just continues staring at the receptionist.

"Err..." the receptionist tries to formulate a reply; years of experience working in the Adventurers' Guild had not prepared her for a noble wanting to play hero.

The silver haired woman looks...fragile. All noble women did. On second thought, there was Lakyus Alvein Dale Aindra, a noble woman who chose to become an adventurer and ascended to the exalted Adamantite rank with her team Blue Rose.

But this lady was different. Her hands were smooth and without blemish, the sign of someone who doesn't know the word 'hardship'.

Her ivory skin indicates that she spends little time out in the sun.

Everyone could only assume one thing.

A noble's daughter trying to play hero, again. Probably inspired by Lakyus and believed she could be just like her. Admirable, but naive.

Which made a lot of sense when one sat down and thought about it.

Her gear was one of the most obvious things to point out.

A dress wouldn't be able to protect her from the heat or cold, and most importantly it wouldn't be able to defend her from anything aimed at killing her.

That numerous priceless rings she wore would only serve to draw the attention of bandits.

Her shoes would serve no use in protecting those dainty feet from rocks and the toils of travel.

Her clothing was directed more towards being pretty, instead of providing practicality.

And that staff. It was clear to everyone at this point that it was in all likelihood some ancient family relic. Probably something akin to Lakyus's Dark Sword. Or maybe just an elegant looking staff. You never knew when it came to nobles. But the way it shone was probably a result of an enchantment geared towards intimidation rather than an indicator of actual power. No adventurer would have a staff with details as intricate as that one. It wasn't a weapon meant to be wielded in combat, it was a piece of art meant to be hung up in some dusty treasury.

The receptionist doubted the staff would be of much actual use, especially if the purpose of it was just to look pleasant. Even on the highly unlikely chance that it was indeed some powerful magical item, she would need to be a magician to fully utilize it. And from the looks of it, the woman didn't strike anyone as a powerful mage. More like a spoiled noble.

Apparently the receptionist had been thinking for far too long when she suddenly noticed the silver haired lady glancing at her quizzically. Recovering from her short scrutiny of the woman before her, she continued asking.

"Are you by yourself?"

"Yes. Well, I have a..." the woman halted, pondering the proper word to use in this scenario. "...pet."

"Ah, a companion you mean." The receptionist adjusted the word to the properly used term for animals used by Adventurers.

It was very common for Adventurers to have a tamed beast as a companion, since it would usually help in fulfilling requests. If your tamed beast was special enough, you could receive a highly specialized request, which only you, the owner of the tamed beast could fulfill. But that was only if you could tame said beast.

Although it was considered a common practice among Adventurers, actually raising a tamed beast was typically more trouble than it was worth. Taming a wild beast was an arduous process to begin with, not to mention the amount of money one would have to sink into taking care of it. You needed to tame them, train them to suit your needs, and most importantly, feed them. Few Adventurers had that much time or resources on their hands. It was far more efficient to pick low paying jobs that were available year-round like collecting herbs or slaying goblins. Even though the money received would be small in comparison to more difficult jobs, it was still a stable and sufficient source of income.

Nobles usually used highly trained guard dogs. Thinking this, the surrounding Adventurers snickered behind the silver haired woman's back. If their hypothesis turned out to be correct, this woman would probably use the same dog as those nobles.

What an idiot… was the general consensus of everybody gathered in the lobby.

A measly dog against enemies as strong as trolls or even the Wise King of the Forest.

Some of them even laughed at the sheer arrogance and naivete of the woman.

How ridiculous! No matter how highly trained the dog could be, a mutt was still a mutt. It would probably end up serving as a snack for those monsters.

"Yes, companion." She corrects herself as she glances at the Adventurers who were laughing behind her back, seemingly confused as to why they were laughing.

Oh Lord, the irony.

"I see. Do you know how the Adventurers' Guild's system works?" the receptionist gently asked.

The silver haired woman shakes her head, "Sadly, I don't. I only arrived in the city this morning. I would be very grateful if you could clarify it for me."

Their assumption changed yet again.

A stupid noble's daughter who wanted to play hero. Another one of those. What was it with fancy looking pricks suicidal chick was probably going to die from the very first goblin she encounters.

The receptionist nodded in understanding, "Then I shall explain the regulations of the Adventurers' Guild as well as the registration requirements. If you would, please follow me."

The receptionist lead the woman to one of the more private waiting rooms, and after asking the woman to sit on the sofa, the receptionist left to grab the guidebook and the necessary documents and returns to the private waiting room.

{After a quarter of an hour of explaining the rules and guidelines regarding the adventurer's guild's ranks and requests.}

"Did you get all that?" So far the woman had only nodded in confirmation, but she was too quiet, and no questions had been asked

"Yes" the woman replies. "The rules are simple enough. I believe it will be easy to uphold all of them."

"Excellent, then all that's left is for you to fulfill the requirements to join the guild. There are only two requirements; you are obligated to pay an entry fee of five silver coins, in addition to signing the required documents which you can take right here at the Adventurers' guild for five copper coins."

"In that case, I'll do so immediately." She puts said amount of coins on the table.

"Congratulations, with these you have been admitted as an Adventurer in this guild, Ms. Hannah. What an interesting name. Are you by any chance from the Dragon Kingdom?"

"Ah, my home town is far further than that..."

That reply was peculiar seeing as the Dragon Kingdom was the furthest human nation known. But whatever. "Here is your copper plate. As I have explained before, this will act as identification when you go adventuring so make sure you don't lose it."

She nods, her face looking especially accomplished. "Oh, regarding my companion, will he have to sign up as well?"

"Well, yes. You have to sign him up. If it's a horse you can just list it as such, assuming you want them to be an official part of the Adventurers' Guild and partake in quests. It's really up to you."

"I see. He can't really write, nor read though, will that be alright?"

"Yes. Um? Wait? What? You have an intelligent companion?" the receptionist coughs, choking on her own saliva. But her mouth gets dryer and dryer by the second at this new information. "An intelligent tamed beast?" she reaches for the glass of water in front of her and began drinking.

The receptionist's thoughts halted in her mind in order to formulate a proper response.

"Sorry, um," she clears her throat. An Adventurer personally registering an intelligent tamed beast was rare, very rare. But this had been covered on the guidebook made by Guildmaster Pluton Ainzach. "Yes, actually, almost any adventurer can't write. On average only one person per team can read. So it shouldn't be a problem. Did you bring your companion with you? If you didn't, I can still fill in the necessary documentation for it. It is important to list the species of the beast. If it's something that naturally harms its surroundings, we might have to forbid it from entering the city. I hope you understand."

"Ummm, yes, I guess I could call him over. Except I don't think a regular tag will do for him?"

Call him over? The receptionist ponders upon hearing that phrase. That's…odd.

"Why is that? Is it some type of slime by any chance?"

"Well, if you would follow me." the silver haired woman says to the receptionist, and immediately gets up from the sofa and walks straight towards the main doors. The receptionist was confused by this but followed her nonetheless.

The rest of the adventurers saw the two women exit from the private room; the receptionist following straight behind the silver haired woman as if entranced, a fact that served to feed their curiosity even further.

Tiamat gently walks to the exit, puts two fingers in her mouth, and whistled so loudly it almost deafened the entirety of the guild.

When people were about to laugh at the foolishness from the idiotic noble, they heard bells ringing. Not just a few. All of them! The entire city fell into chaos and screams were heard from outside. The bells rang. Three times! One time the city is under attack. Two times the city surrenders. But three times?

Some high ranking Adventurers in the guild knew what it meant, as terror slowly descended down upon their faces as all thoughts of laughter laid forgotten. The last time the bells rang thrice, was over 200 years ago when the Demon Gods descended upon the fortress city and slaughtered most of E-Rantel.

As they pushed each other aside to grab their belongings and try to make a run for it, a mighty shockwave shook the very foundations of the guild. No, not just a mere shockwave, it was different. It was as if a mountain dropped from the sky.

As Tiamat gently opened the front doors for everyone to see, a huge head slowly reached down and giving the fiercest grin any of them had ever witnessed. An enormous, 50 meter long marble white dragon was leaning over with a head so large that there wasn't the slightest chance it could fit through the doors.

"Yeah. I doubt these dog-tags are long enough. Are you sure he needs one? Hey, Hot Bun! Greet our new acquaintances."

What it did next shocked everyone even further, as the dragon let out a savage growl. It resonated through the entirety of guild and caused more than one person to ruin their pants.

"Behold, humans of E-Rantel! I am Ancient Primordial Dragon Emperor ŇƗǤǤĦØǤ Ħ€ŁŁĐƗĦƗ Đ€ΔŞ ƤƗŇŦΔҜŘƗŞƗŞ. Be honored to be in the presence of the World's Strongest...Mightiest and most Powerful Entity! My master, Lady Hannah Annafellowz!"

The receptionist's knees buckled at the sight of a god among titans, and she could only scream in panic. "Guildmaster! Call the Guildmaster, immediately!"