Chapter 33: Failed Negotiation
Demiurge carefully read over the worn out sheets of paper in his hand. He checked, double checked, triple checked, over and over again as he confirmed even the most minute details of the raid plans.
Everything had to be perfect. An offering that was anything less would disgrace the Supreme Beings.
Demiurge pushed up his glasses that glinted as the light shone off them. A plan this large was giving even him a headache.
In order for the operation to go without a hitch, they needed to rescue the human girl that Lady Tiamat had picked up, capture all of the people in charge of the criminal organization they were targeting, loot all of their warehouses, and take over the majority of their production facilities.
The logistics of the problem were certainly not simple. Demiurge had to admit, this was a challenging problem even for him. At least he had Albedo helping him.
"Demiurge," Albedo passed him a sheet of paper, "We may need to send more units here since there's more area to cover."
Demiurge took the paper from her hand and frowned. Indeed, a large scale drug farm would require a few more units in order to cover the entire farm in a short period of time.
"Alright, so is there anything else that needs to be checked Albedo?" he laid the paper on top of the 'completed' pile.
"No, I don't think so," she stood up and stretched her cramped muscles, "I believe that this much should be more than suitable."
"Alright," Demiurge nodded. Albedo was the number one person in Nazarick when it came to logistics, and it would be an act of great folly to question the position the Supreme Beings had seen fit to bestow upon her.
"Demiurge," Albedo leaned back in her chair, "Everything will go okay."
The Archdemon scowled at his colleague, "It is our job to prepare for every eventuality. To slack in our duties will be spitting on the mercy that our Supreme Beings have shown us." For them to present a plan that didn't account for every possibility would be a sin for them as servants of the most high Supreme Beings.
Albedo had a thoughtful look in her eyes as she replied, "That's true," her eyes twinkled, "But for some reason, I feel like a certain dragon would be very cross with us if we stressed out this much you know? We've done all that we can. Now, we can only trust in the Supreme Beings and the squadrons we've assigned."
"Very well," Demiurge slumped against the wall, "Let's brief the Eight Edge Assassins, Shadow Demons, and Ghosts on the mission details then."
The plan had a low probability of success, but if they got one gear turning, he believed everything would go well.
He transported himself to Neuronist's floor and briskly walked towards her torture chamber. They didn't have much time to dawdle about.
He opened the door and saw all the equipment and scrolls had already been prepared. Neuronist nodded as she saw him. Even without a single word, the residents of Nazarick knew what was needed from them.
Demiurge sent a 『Message』 to everyone involved, [It's time.]
He was met with a collection of acknowledgement.
Solution was the first to move.
(ʃƪ¬‿¬)
His head was pounding as he woke up with an immense headache.
He blearily opened his eyes as the dull pain persisted in the back of his skull. He tried to moan out in pain, but his voice came out hoarse and muffled. He moved his hand to inspect the damage except that it didn't move. Something was restraining his arms. He found out that his legs were immobilized as well when he tried to stand up.
How long had he been out? He blinked as his eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness in order to better perceive the deep shit that he was in. A tremor of panic vibrated his core as terror engulfed him.
He was motionless, and restrained. Just like a lamb awaiting slaughter.
He tried to wrench his arms free and felt narrow straps dig into his flesh. He cried out in pain and kept pushing against the straps with his forearms. His every instinct cried out for him to fight this unseen enemy, to escape these bonds, to run free and terrorize innocent civilians once more.
"Finally awake I see~" a voice called out, and he snapped his head back, the impact dizzying him for a moment. He yelled out, a shout mingled with fury and panic. The stuffy cloth invaded his mouth, causing him to gag.
His strength was beginning to disappear and the pounding in his head came in shorter intervals. But he couldn't give up now, not now! He tried to recall what had happened until his brain finally put the pieces together.
'The Priestess... that bitch...!'
Fueled with rage, he fought back even harder against his bindings. Him and his fellow comrades were just accompanying Succulent and Havish to ask the Priestess for some ransom to get that blonde bitch back. The last thing he remembered was getting sauntered away by that busty noble too. They must have been working together!
His muffled shouts grew stronger as his struggles became even more desperate. He should escape and tell Succulent that it was all a trap!
"You're the brave one hm?" the voice behind him sang. He turned his head, and his eyes widened at what he saw.
An abominable monster he had never seen before. Was the Priestess colluding with such a disgusting being? He had to tell everyone!
"I don't have enough time since this operation is reliant on my information, so I'm going to make it short, okay~?" the monster said in a cheerful voice and before he knew it, the table that he was laying down on tilted up so that he was now staring at the wall instead of the ceiling. "Our precious Supreme Beings are relying on me after all~"
"Now," the tentacled monster happily said, "It's time for us to do some singing~!"
A searing pain started clawing at his knee with an unpleasant warmth that ate away at his stomach and he yelled into his gag. Without him realizing, his fist was clenched so tightly that blood was beginning to leak from his palms. Nonetheless, the pain continued to slowly burn at his knees.
He looked down to his knee and saw that a knife was stuck in it, causing the kneecap to shift into a very unnatural position.
"MMMMMFGHH!"
"Now you're going to listen and do as I say, okay darling~?" his tormenter slid one disgustingly slimy and long finger across his cheek. "I don't need a bad boy who doesn't listen to me~"
'This fucking disgusting monster!' he looked at it in contempt. 'Just you wait, as soon as I get out of here, you'll be the first one I fucking murder!'
He couldn't see it for himself, but his eyes were burning holes at the monster in front of him with raw hatred and contempt.
Ignoring his glare, the monster continued talking.
"All you need to do is to point out your base on this map here. You would do it for me, right darling~?" the monster brought out a parchment for him to see.
He knew that map, it was a map of the Re-estize Kingdom.
"MFFFK YUUU!" 'FUCK YOU!' he continued muffling but his pathetic and impotent rage just fueled the monster's desire for more.
"Oh!" the monster clapped its slimy hands together with joy, "You're still feeling very feisty I see! Sadly, I can't focus too much on you for now. But I did promise that I would make it easier for you if you behaved like a good boy~"
His body flailed against the table and his restraints, his struggles growing more and more violent, more and more desperate by the second. Despite all his rage and bravado, he didn't want to know what the monster was going to do to him.
"Ara ara," the monster sighed, and again, the searing pain on his knee sharpened, his whole body flinching in response to the pain.
The knife that was stuck in his knee was being twisted around in a playful loop, causing the kneecap to shift even further from its original position.
He slammed his head against the table in desperation, trying to escape from the pain.
"Are you finished with your tantrum~? Now, be a dear and point out your base on this map, okay~?"
"Mmmf," he tiredly let out a muffled groan of determined refusal. Even if he died, he wasn't going to sell out his comrades.
"I see," the monster suddenly turned serious, "It seems like everything is progressing as Demiurge-sama has predicted."
His eyes widened.
It wasn't so much because of the appearance of the faceless and skinless beings silently standing next to the tentacled monster. It was because he saw the unconscious face of one of his comrades in their clutches, gagged and tied.
"MMMMMMFGH!" his body was filled with a new anguished energy as he realized that he was not the only one brought to this hell.
"Don't worry," the monster playfully pinched the cheeks of his unconscious comrade, "He won't be the one that's getting hurt as long as he's a good boy~"
A sense of dread crawled down his spine. Surely, there was no good reason for the monster to refrain from torturing his friend.
"Wake him up my darlings~" the abomination commanded, and the skinless beings slowly shook the man awake as they took off the cloth that was covering his friend's mouth.
"Wu-Wha-What?! Where am I?" his friend groggily spoke as he looked left and right in an attempt to gather his bearings, "What is this?!"
His comrade's eyes grew even wider as he saw the tentacled aberration that was smiling at him. "W-What!"
The man who had just now woken up looked around even more and his face grew paler than a corpse when he saw one of his fellow mercenaries strapped to a table with a dagger stuck to his kneecap.
A small gagging noise was heard before the sour scent of puke added to the stench of blood that lingered in the room.
"Blurrggh!" he cringed as he watched his friend retch upon seeing that his kneecap was in a position it could never naturally be in.
"Oh dear," the monster frowned, "You've gone and made a mess all over the floor," one of it's tentacles brushed against the chin of the terrified man, "But it's okay since I'm willing to forgive you if—"
"MMPRH!" he interrupted as he tried to bring attention to himself even though he was still strapped on the metal table, and his still-shocked comrade finally looked at him. With that one look, his friend realized what was going on.
"L-Look, I-I d-don't know if you would unders-stand me. But I'm j-just a paid m-mercenary. P-please have m-m-mercy," his comrade begged.
He looked at the guy with disdain.
'You're a fucking coward!' he wanted to scream and lash out at him, but alas, he couldn't do either.
"I love good boys~" the monster licked her long pinkish nail in an attempt to be seductive. "Very well, I shall offer you mercy~ I'm sure you don't want to suffer like your friend, right?"
"Y-Yes! Grant me mercy! I-I have a family back home who're waiting for me!"
"Fu-fun, splendid~! All I need from you is just a tiny little favor, and you'll be set free. Will you do that for me~?" the monster asked bashfully.
He wanted to throw up. If his comrade sold them out… everything would be over.
"A-Anything!"
"Point out your base on this map."
"W-What?"
"You heard me," the monster smiled happily, "You said anything, right?"
"B-But…"
"You see," the monster moved closer and huskily spoke in his ear, "Your friend over there on the metal bed has already told me the location of your base~"
He knew the look that his friend was giving him. He was someone everyone had looked up to, someone who was brave and noble in a profession that was anything but. He was the leader in their group. And right now, he saw that his friend was giving him the look of disbelief from the fact that he had ratted them cowardly man looked at the bleeding man in disbelief. His leader was always someone he looked up to, someone who was brave and noble in a dirty job market. And this same leader had already sold them out?
Slowly, tentacles crawled to his friend's face to caress his cheek as the monster stood by his right shoulder, as if to ensure him that everything was going to be okay. Instead of feeling safe and secure, his friend only displayed an expression of dread.
"If you point to the same location as him, I will set you free~" the monster whispered seductively, untying the rope that had once binded his friend.
His friend gulped in fear.
"MMPHHRRMM!" 'No! It's fucking lying! It's a trap you dimwit!' he tried to scream, but to no avail. Already, the only thing the cowardly man cared about was his own safety.
"I-It's right here," his friend pointed out.
The monster's eyes turned into happy slits.
"Now that's a good boy~!" it petted the traitor's head like he was a dog.
"S-So, can I leave now?" the cowardly traitor asked, his voice filled with a hopeful tremor. "You p-promised that if I told y-you where the base was, you'd let me go!"
The monster remained silent for a moment. Hearing no response, the cowardly man's voice grew shriller, "Y-You pro-promised!"
"That's true..." the monster stroked its chin in careful thought, "But you see, I need to be extra sure you know? Otherwise the Supreme Beings would be disappointed in me," it cupped the man's chin with it's abnormally long fingers, "And we couldn't have that, could we~?"
"N-No," the man's pants grew dark with piss as he fell onto his butt and desperately tried to crawl away, "No no no no no no no! I-I can't die here! Not in a pl-pl-place like this!"
The skinless beings easily grabbed the terrified man and strapped him to a metal table next to the man who refused to sell out his comrades. In the end, both of them would share in the same fate.
"Please..." the grown man was reduced to pathetic sobbing and whimpering now, "Let me go… I promise I won't tell anyone!"
The first man glared at his once-comrade in complete disgust. His actions had condemned every single one of them to death, yet he had the nerve to beg for his life?
Regardless, neither of them had much time to think when the faceless, skinless assistants of the monster stepped forth, each carrying a platter filled with carefully organized tools. Each tool was strange and unfamiliar, but one thing was for sure; none of them were designed with a benevolent purpose in mind.
Both men gulped in fear of what was to come.
"Now~" the monster stepped forth with a bizarre clamp that had a spherical cap in it's center, "This is called a head crusher. I brought it out for your brave friend over here. You see, I will let you free if you point to the same location as your dear friend just did. If you don't, tee-hee~"
"B-But you promised me," his friend cried at his naiveté.
"Aww~" the monster swiped away his tears, "It's okay, you are such a good boy~! If your friend is pointing towards the same location, I will set you free."
It was an innuendo that none other than he who was laying on the metal table could capture.
'You think I'm going to let you leave that easily?!'
He was fueled with rage once again.
'Fucking betrayer and a coward at that! If I can't escape, I'm taking you with me!'
"So go ahead my dear, point with your nose the location of your base~" the monster once again brought a map before him so that he could see it clearly.
He took one last hateful look at his comrade who was now shivering in fear for his safety, oblivious to everything else.
"P-Please, I'm n-newly married! My w-wife is waiting for me!" the traitor began to beg for his life.
'Fuck you.'
And he pointed his nose at some random location on the map.
The monster sighed, "It seems that you guys are not giving me the same answer~"
His friend looked at him in shock, and he smiled inwardly.
"I'm sorely disappointed. I thought you two were good boys..." the monster's tentacles drooped down as if it was depressed, and it covered its face with its hands as if it was crying. "Good boys don't lie you know…"
"B-But…"
"Oh well~!" the monster grew cheerful, happier than ever in a split moment, and she picked up the bizarre implement. "On you go!"
The monster plopped the clamp onto both of their heads, and its assistants slowly began to tighten it.
"N-nooo…. S-Stop, please!" the man's body pushed against the restraints as the clamp slowly clamped harder and harder on his temples.
The coward's begging had no effect on the skinless beings. They silently continued to tighten the clamp as the tentacled monster danced around cheerfully.
"Oooooh, I love this part~!" the monster happily jumped up and down in excitement.
"N-Noo..." their eyes began bulging out as his skull began to deform around the vice-like grip of the head crusher, "S-stawapp..."
A moment of morbid silence reigned over the room as even the Neuronist watched in morbid fascination.
Splat.
Bits of the coward's skull, brains, and blood flew across the room, bits and pieces landing on the each other's faces, and splattered on the walls and floors of the torture chamber.
They are now silent, their eyes drooping out from their sockets with trails of red blood streaking down their cheeks. Pinkish gray chunks slowly dripped down from their eye sockets, nostrils, ears, and mouth. Now both of them were no more.
As soon as the deed was done, Neuronist looked up to where the so-called 'cameras' were recording the whole thing, "You all saw that didn't you, my darlings~?"
Even though Neuronist looked like she was talking to empty air, in fact, she was speaking to the rest of the prisoners in their own respective cells.
This was all part of Demiurge's plan.
Get a brave one and a cowardly one out of the bunch and use them as an example to the others. Then let the rest who were separated watch what would happen if they chose to be… uncooperative.
"Write the location of your base now. If it doesn't match, none of you will be set free~" she commanded.
How she wished she could have looked at the prisoners' look of despair as she told them that through the 'cameras', or perhaps how aghast they looked when their so called comrades died in vain just to serve as a show.
They must have scrambled their way around the map, marking it as soon as possible since they didn't want to experience the same thing.
But in the end, they would all suffer the same fate.
Neuronist smirked.
Afterall, there was a difference between setting them free and letting them go.
(ʃƪ¬‿¬)
Succulent and Havish looked at the Priestess as if she was insane.
They didn't expect the Priestess to defy them like this. Succulent silently swallowed his saliva in shock, wracking his brain in an attempt to assess the situation. Usually they got all of their victims this way, from aristocrats to the poor. If the person in question had someone they cared about, they wouldn't react this way.
'Did I make a mistake? Does the Priestess not care about the girl at all?'
Of course, Havish, a man whose fuse was as short as his stature, stood up and slammed the table, "Priestess you are being rude!"
"Rude? A man like you has the audacity to talk to me about manners?" she responded in a sharp tone, her voice suddenly turning deadly serious.
Havish bit back his tongue.
"Look at you," the Priestess continued, "A fat pig with self confidence so low that he has to get his dick up by beating women," her eyes narrowed even further, "Do you like it? Would it not get up if you didn't do that?"
Havish screamed again, "Pries—"
But even before he could finish, the Priestess slammed her hand against the table, causing the wood to even splinter a bit. The shock caused the man to jump back against the sofa. The room was quiet for a split second before a furious voice arose.
"I'm not finished talking, you fucking imbecile!"
Even Succulent was shocked. Where was the fair, demure maiden who had hosted them just moments before?
"People have their kinks, but beating them until they're black and blue even if they say no hundreds and hundreds of times? Beating them until you break their bones and bite their tongues off? Is that a fun job for you, Lord Havish?" the Priestess asked sweetly.
"T-That's—"
"Oh I'm sorry, did I misunderstand you? Was it a hobby? You do it leisurely? Not for work?"
"No, I-I—"
Seeing that Havish was taken aback, Succulent responded in his stead.
"They are just some lowly woman, Priestess-sama. Surely someone your stature would understand?"
"Lowly woman, you said?" As soon as those words came out of her lips, Succulent knew that he had said the wrong thing.
The woman in front of them had clenched her knuckles so hard that her fist had turned white in color. From the short distance that they were sitting from her, they could tell that she was gritting her teeth in unadulterated rage. Her hunched form exuded an animosity that was like acid; burning, sharp, potent. Her eyes alone made them feel an instinctual fear for their lives.
Then she laughed.
She laughed so hard that it made both of them confused.
"Ah, I can't deal with this anymore," she plopped back again onto the sofa, "Are they done, Sebas?"
"I have been informed that Neuronist has gotten what we needed from the prisoners, My Lady."
"That's great."
"Prisoners?" Succulent muttered to himself, and as if a bell just toiled in his head, he came to a sudden realization.
'It's too quiet in the mansion!'
Succulent suddenly stood up, causing Havish to stare at him in confusion, "Succulent?" the pudgy man asked.
However, without responding, Succulent made a beeline towards the door, but as soon as he opened it, he was blocked by that busty blond lady. Succulent noticed that instead of wearing a noble's dress, the woman was now wearing something similar to a maid's outfit. The next instant, he was somehow gasping for air, for the woman was now lifting him up by the neck with a single hand.
His eyes became round in surprise as his lips slowly turned blue. How was a simple noblewoman so strong? Who were these people?
"W-What did you do to my men?!"
"Good timing, Solution!" the Priestess clapped her hands happily, "Bring him back to his seat please."
The woman—Solution it seemed her name was—dragged him by the neck. Succulent tried to pull her fingers away from his neck, but to no avail. Her grip was stronger than the sturdiest chains.
'H-How is she so strong?!' he panicked, and before he knew it, the woman had brought him back to the sofa and unceremoniously threw him against it.
"Are you okay, Succulent?!" Havish scrambled over to his bodyguard. "You can't die here and leave me with these two crazy women!"
Succulent couldn't do anything but respond in explosive coughs. His throat had been bruised, and he was sure that the woman had been holding back just enough to not snap it, "It's fine," he said while warily looking at the Priestess in front of them.
'That's why she was so calm. The whole thing was a trap.'
"What do you want from us?" Succulent, who had finally understood the situation, asked.
"Information," the woman responded simply.
'We've been had,' Succulent realized.
He thought he could blackmail an adamantine adventurer because she seemed demure and submissive. In retrospect, he should've known better. Succulent silently clenched his fist.
'Her aim wasn't the girl, in fact, she doesn't care about the girl. That slave was just bait to get information on Eight Fingers.'
"On us?" Succulent asked, trying to confirm what he had thought.
"Bingo~"
"You won't be able to do that."
"Why not?" the woman innocently asked.
"They are far stronger than what you might think. No one in the Kingdom can defeat them, not even Blue Rose or the Warrior Captain. Even if you get information from me, I would be replaced. In fact, I know almost nothing about them in the first place," Succulent bluffed.
In fact, he was one of the core members of Six Arms, the Security Division of Eight Fingers. Although the Priestess in front of him was truly fearsome, he feared the other members of Six Arms more. If they knew that he divulged their secrets to the Priestess…
Well, he'd rather she killed him in that case.
"Hmm," the Priestess began picking her fingernails, "It seems like you need more… persuading."
A bead of cold sweat ran down Succulent's cheek.
"But to be perfectly honest with you, I'm just really tired of your bullshitting," the Priestess smiled brightly at them, "Really tired."
"W-What are you two talking about?!" Havish, who had no idea how the tide had turned to the Priestess's favor, was now confused at the conversation the two were having.
"Wait, so you don't need information?" Succulent asked.
"Nah, I still need it. But I can get it through other means," she shrugged, "Say, do you know what this is?" she asked them while taking out a thin piece of parchment seemingly out of nowhere, as if she materialized it from thin air.
Succulent looked at the item the woman was holding. The material was thick and rough as she smoothed the page out. It was old and littered with creases that ran across the page, with sweeping black letters that were printed neatly in tight uniform lines. A myriad of golden and scarlet clouds decorated the edge of the surface.
He knew that some scrolls could be used as items, but it was the first time he had seen such an intricate looking scroll. He didn't want the Priestess to know that he didn't know what it was, so he remained silent.
"I said, what are the two of you talking about?!" Havish got angry again, Succulent gritted his teeth in annoyance. Didn't the man know how to keep his mouth shut at the very least? Surely, even an idiot like him would know how precarious their situation was right now.
"Silence, pig. The humans are talking," the Priestess famed for her kindness exuded a killing intent so thick that even Succulent trembled in fear.
"I demand to know! Don't you dare ignore me, don't you know who I am—"
"Sebas, cut off his tongue," she cut him off, "I have no need for a squealing pig."
"With pleasure, My Lady," the butler bowed gracefully.
The old man was so incredibly fast that before Succulent could even blink, the tongue that once belonged to Havish had been cut off.
The butler sighed, "Ignorant fool."
"MMMMFFBVVVV!" Havish screamed wordlessly as blood pooled down from his now tongueless mouth. The Priestess looked at him with disgust before turning to the butler.
"I apologize, Sebas. I shouldn't have told you to cut off his tongue here and spill blood everywhere. If I knew it would be this repulsive and messy, I wouldn't have told you to cut off his tongue on that pretty carpet you just bought."
"Please do not concern yourself over such trifles, My Lady."
"Now then, Succulent, I shall—" but before she could continue, Succulent threw a bottle at the floor. A hazy white mist filled the room, and he quickly casted 『Invisibility』 while simultaneously casting『Multiple Vision』, a copy of himself sitting on the sofa.
He was an Illusionist dual classing as a fencer. This meant that he could attack quickly while fooling his opponent's senses, a combo that sounded deadly on paper. However, faced with this absurd situation, he could not help but remember what Zero had once said to him.
"Your bag of petty tricks won't help you against someone stronger than you."
At the time, he was embarrassed and angered at the scoffing, but now he completely understood what Zero meant.
He was utterly and absolutely outmatched right now.
'I need to run away from here. These people are way above my league!' Succulent immediately ran towards the window with the intention to smash through it to escape, but instead, he bounced off as if something invisible was standing in the way between him and that window.
"Eh?"
He quickly remembered to reactivate 『Invisibility』before it ran out and moved his hand to feel what was between this window and him.
He felt something hard and cold, and all of a sudden, a gust of cold air blew on the top of his head.
"I must ask you to refrain from fondling my subordinates, Succulent. He's just not your type," the Priestess leisurely got up and began walking in his direction, despite his 『Invisibility』.
"S-Subordinate?" he stupidly asked before cursing himself. If she didn't know where he was before, she certainly did now.
Like magic, something that previously wasn't there was now standing right between the window and Succulent. Between him and freedom was a big, blue, chilly and bipedal insectoid.
"Afterall, Cocytus has no interest in such filthy acts."
"M-Monster…" Succulent muttered under his breath. He had never seen such a monster in his life before. It was a being with multiple eyes that shone like dark ice, an exoskeleton that looked nigh unbreakable, and several arms that ended in claws that looked like they could crush his head with the slightest pinch.
"She was fifteen when she started," the Priestess said softly.
Succulent gritted his teeth as he let the Priestess's lecture go in one ear and out the other. As he scanned the room, his heart grew heavier and heavier with despair as he began to realize that there was truly no way out of this. All of his escape routes were blocked. The door that led out of the room was guarded by the blond maid, while the windows were guarded by the blue insect.
It was his loss…
He had looked down on his opponent and it had become his downfall.
"It doesn't matter!" he responded hopelessly, "It has been four years since she has been working under us! You taking her away is a crime!"
"Four years, four minutes, it's all the same. Did you not know, Succulent? For girls like her, every time they close their eyes, their nightmares come terror takes them, consumes them, and the memories carved into their flesh will leave scars that will never be healed."
"She deserved it! We got her fair and square from the noble who sold her to us! If it wasn't for us, he would have just thrown her out like trash and let her die on the streets!" he shouted desperately, "She owes us her fucking life!"
The woman looked at him with sheer rage. She grabbed him by his collar so that his forehead was nearly pressed against hers, and she seethed, "You people may fuck their vaginas, and you might think that you've made them into someone that enjoys being abused, but unlike you, dick, their mind doesn't lay beween their two legs."
She let go of her grip on him, causing Succulent to fall flat onto the floor. With a look of disdain, the parchment in her hand glowed brilliantly for a split second before crumbling into dust.
Succulent looked at her empty hand with a feeling of confusion and an even deeper feeling of dread.
"Since it looks like you don't know, I'll tell you what was inside the parchment," the Priestess smiled, "It was mind-control magic."
Succulent's eyes widened.
'I don't feel anything different from before… What kind of mind-control magic could it have been?'
"Be a good puppet from now on, m'kay!"
"No, please spare me! I-I—" Succulent fell down on his knees in an attempt to beg. His body however, had other thoughts.
It was as if his limbs were tied to ropes, and he was being forced to dance to a tune, like he was a doll for a children's play. He panicked as he tried to fight back against the force compelling his body. Slowly, he started losing the feeling in his limbs. He tried staying still when commanded to dance.
But it was all useless.
Within seconds, the mind control was complete. The man who was pathetically begging for his life stood up straight, his eyes gleaming in terror.
He wanted to scream, but even that was denied to him.
"Succulent, what is your last name?" the Priestess asked in a relaxed manner, as if she was relishing his suffering.
"I am an orphan and therefore have no last name."
"What is your organization?"
"Six Arms."
"What is that? Explain in detail."
"We are the Security Division of Eight Fingers and are responsible for protecting the other branches. We are led by a man named Zero, who rivals even the genius Brain Unglaus and the Warrior Captain in strength, with me as their weakest. There is also Davernoch who is a powerful undead known as the Elder Lich. Edström, the sole female member who has earned the title of the Dancing Scimitar. Peshurian is our knight, and Malmvist is our swashbuckler."
"Kill yourself."
The man immediately took a knife from his back pocket and almost slammed it against his chest, but he was stopped by Cocytus before the blade could pierce his heart.
"Okay, the mind control is working, Momo-chan!" she said happily.
Beneath the shadows, as if the darkness itself was taking form, Ainz finally revealed himself. Havish could only stupidly stare at Ainz in shock as he cowered in fear. He had thought that this would be a simple blackmailing session. He had not anticipated that an undead such as the one before him would appear out of nowhere.
Havish's eyes dilated in fear as he gaped at the majestic undead in awe. It was wearing robes that absorbed all the light around it. It felt like he was staring at the God of Death himself.
"Hiiiiiiiiii!" Havish fell on his butt and scrambled away from the Death God. An unseemly stain spread across his pants.
The Death God ignored him and focused on the Priestess.
"It's Ainz," the Skeleton responded to the Priestess's exclamation.
"Tomato, Tomahtoe," she waved it off, "What about the pig?" she asked.
"I'm pretty certain you have a punishment in mind don't you?" Ainz glanced at Havish with disgust somehow radiating from his pin-prick beams of red.
"Really?" Tiamat clasped her hands as her eyes sparkled happily, "You'll let me settle his punishment?"
"Just make it as painful as possible. Don't mutilate the body too much though, since it's always good to have more subjects to experiment on."
Tiamat pondered for a bit, "I was actually thinking of letting him experience what the girls experienced."
"Alright, but only after Neuronist finishes interrogating him. Demiurge," Ainz called out.
"It will be as the Supreme Beings have ordered," Demiurge walked out from Ainz's shadow, "I will prepare the dopplegangers at once."
"Already? You work really fast, Demiurge!" Tiamat reeled back in awe, "So capable… I'm jealous."
"You praise me too highly, My Lady. I could only hope of reaching yours and Lord Ainz's abilities."
"What. About. This. Man. Lady. Tiamat?" Cocytus chipped in, still holding Succulent back from her last command.
"Ah, I almost forgot. Stand down Succulent," she ordered, and the man obeyed her like a puppet. "All yours, Momo-chan."
"Good. Time to go after the next phase. And please call me Ainz..."
Omake: One Skeleton Raid
All in all, their plan was solid, but not good enough.
There were two locations. The first one was bait, and the second one was the real location where Tsuare was kept captive.
However both of them had issues attached.
The bait location was swarmed with the executives of Six Arms and their cronies, while in the real location, Zero was already waiting to get his free kill.
Either way, both places were very troublesome.
If they were normal people of course.
After extracting the relevant information from Succulent, Ainz made a mental note to gauge their power and ask him in detail about their skills. What he knew was certainly limited but not entirely useless.
In fact, he was really interested in this Elder Lich the man had mentioned earlier.
So he let Tiamat go after Tsuare with Sebas and Solution by her side. In addition, a squadron of Eight Edged Assassins would be accompanying them in case they needed to buy time to escape.
Him?
He would go to the Elder Lich and the rest of the executives with Shalltear, Aura, and Mare. However, he had ordered them to stay put and stay within the shadows until told otherwise.
So here he was standing in front of the executives of the Six Arms.
"Are you four the bosses of Six Arms?" Ainz asked, his voice slightly muffled due to his helmet.
"Ha?! Who the hell are you?!" the woman—Edström he believed her name was—with the fiery temper replied.
"I am looking for a woman named Tsuare," he simply replied.
"Where is the Priestess? We were supposed to meet her here." the red haired gentleman—Malmvist—replied back disdainfully, "We don't have time to deal with some busybody like you."
"I came here as her envoy."
"Who the fuck are you, you meddlesome son of a bitch!" the woman asked again. The way the imposing full-plate armored man was just casually standing there among four of the executives of Six Arms was beginning to unnerve her.
The man whose face looked like it was burned off, her subordinate, Davernoch, responded in his stead, "Dark Warrior Momon, a newly minted Adamantine."
Peshurian stared at the man in front of him, "What is an Adamantine doing here?"
"I told you, I'm the Priestess's envoy."
"So the rumors were true after all, huh?" Malmvist scoffed, "That you and the Priestess were fuc—"
He was suddenly cut off because he no longer had a head to speak with.
"Please excuse me," Ainz apologized, "It seems that my hands slipped."
The two non-undead executives of Six Arms looked at him fearfully.
"W-What…" Edström stuttered. She knew that Adamantites were strong, but she hadn't expected Malmvist to die in one hit without being able to do anything.
"A-Ah…" Peshurian trembled in his armor, "AAAAAAAH! 『Spacial Slash』!"
Throwing away all sense of reason in his fear, Peshurian took out his sword and used his special ability, 『Spacial Slash』. The moment before his whiplike blade could slice into the Dark Warrior, the Adamantite adventurer smoothly lifted his blade up and intercepted the attack.
"『Spacial Slash』?" Ainz scoffed, "I… don't even know what to say. Anyways," he dashed towards Peshurian, "I should hurry up and do what I came here to do."
With a broad sweep of his great sword, he bisected Peshurian, armor and all, before turning to Edström.
The Dancing Scimitar trembled as the intestines of her comrade splattered all over her face.
"Pl-please don't kil—" Ainz casually bashed her head in with his fist.
"Now, what about you?" he turned to look at Davernoch, the self proclaimed 'Undead King', "You've been standing there the whole time while your comrades have been getting slaughtered."
'If he's working with humans, then he's certainly not like the typical undead in YGGDRASIL' Ainz mused to himself. He was eager to capture the lich and see what he could learn from it.
Davernoch trembled in fear before shaking his head in anger. How could he, a superior Elder Lich, possibly feel fear from an inferior being like a human?! His comrades had all died because they were careless, not because the man in front of them was particularly strong.
"Die!『Fire Ball』!" a blazing orb of flames coalesced in Davernoch's hand before he threw the Fireball at the Warrior.
The man clad in black armor simply dodged aside and ran towards him, but before he could get close enough, Davernoch had prepared another spell.
"『Lightning』!"
The warrior expertly dodged his next spell. It was as if he could read his every move.
'Is he looking into the future?!' Davernoch thought with frustration.
"Impossible! What are all of you doing?!" Davernoch roared at the fodder who were frozen in terror, "Attack this intruder at once!"
The terrified thugs of Six Arms, who had been cowering in fear when they saw three of their bosses die in a single hit, ran towards Ainz. It was not because they wanted to attack him, but because they feared the repercussions of disobedience more.
"Hyaaaaaaaaaa!" they all came running at him, their eyes filled with terror.
All the warrior needed was one swing, and the entire front row of the mob was sliced in twain.
"Pathetic," the Dark Warrior muttered to himself.
Despite seeing their comrades die in vain, the rest of the fodder gritted their teeth and continued to charge. If they retreated, Eight Fingers would surely kill them afterwards. If they ran forward, they would be killed by the Adamantite adventurer. With such despair in their hearts, they ran to their deaths.
But then the Black Warrior did something absolutely no one would think he would do.
He dropped his sword.
Seeing that he was unarmed raised the confidence of the thugs slightly. Their war cries grew louder as they rushed towards him with renewed vigor. Shalltear was clenching her fists in rage as she almost ran out to assist her master; however, she was held back by Aura and Mare.
What happened next was something Davernoch had never seen before in his many years of life and un-life.
The warrior slapped the people around him.
Yes, slapped.
The whole "fight" was a slap fest.
He slapped the people around him with unmatched precision and speed. It was one man going down after another and within minutes, he was finished, surrounded by a lot of heads and a lot of blood.
Next the warrior loomingly advanced towards the Elder Lich.
"S-Stop, don't come n-near me!" Davernoch cried pathetically, all his pride laid to the wayside.
"Are you the Undead King?" Ainz asked.
"I-I am…"
"Show me your best magic spell."
"I just showed you!"
"You're saying that small bit of tinder and that measly electricity were your best spells?"
"Y-Yes."
Ainz slapped him right on the cheek. The Lich's skull flew off and shattered on the floor.
"My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined," Ainz shook his head as he turned around and walked out, cape fluttering in the wind, "My summons are better."
A/N: Tiamat had a thing for cutting off tongues, Ainz just wants to trade magic cards but his opponents cards are worse than his own, cri in op.
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