Hi, author here.
I see that my recent announcement has made some people upset, and for that I apologize. I just felt that it was important and couldn't be delayed for too long.
As an apology, the next chapter is here in full.
Sorry again about that.
[X][X][X]
"WHERE DID YOU GET THAT THING?!"
"W-what thing?"
"THAT FOX CREATURE IN THE DUNGEON! WHERE DID YOU CATCH THAT?!"
Ryu furiously asked his question to one of the bandits the group had knocked out earlier inside the fort. The bandit was tied up on a chair. The rest of the group just kept themselves silent, looking at how angry Ryu was. The Swords of Darkness team were stunned at what their eyes saw, while Rubeus Frohd was still calm and collected. Frohd then spoke up to Ryu.
"You're flustered, man. Let me handle this. Unless you want to damage your throat further"
"Tch..."
Ryu stepped back to give way to Frohd, who then approached the tied up bandit.
"Listen here, lad. Your comrades are all dead. Someone, or something, raided your camp to take that fox creature you kept in the dungeon"
Frohd was telling the truth. The other bandits the group had knocked out earlier were dead. Whatever raided the fort from the front had finished all the bandits off. This one guy was lucky that he had gotten buried under some furnitures so he had not been noticed.
It was a wonder that the group didn't meet the other raiding party at all. Were they specialized in stealth or it had been just a streak of unfortunate coincidence?
"W-what? That's impossible! I don't believe you! Bulls-"
BOOM!
A fireball came out from Ryu's weapon and hit the wall behind the bandit. The fireball missed his face by just less than five centimeters. He could feel some part of his hair singed.
"If you don't talk, the next one won't miss"
"Look, lad. Whatever raided your camp also took his partner away along with the fox creature, so now he is not in a good mood. If you don't speak I can't guarantee that I will be able to stop him from really throwing a fireball at your face"
"Waaaah! I will talk! I will talk! Please don't kill me!"
"Just so you know. During my younger days I have seen a lot of people lying just to save themselves, so I can tell if you're lying or not. Therefore, please don't"
The bandit looked pale hearing Frohd's words.
"I have no idea! I was not in the hunting party when we caught that fox!"
"Alright, so what do you know?"
"T-they caught it in a forest to the west. I know nothing else! P-please spare me!"
Frohd then looked at Ryu.
"He's not lying"
Ryu felt upset to the point that he was going to claim that Frohd was wrong and the bandit actually lied. However...
Ninya hugged him from behind.
"Please calm yourself, Ryu-san"
Ryu was speechless.
"I understand that you are upset. I know how that feels, I really do"
Ryu remembered the story of Ninya's kidnapped sister. She lost someone close to her, like what just happened to Ryu. Indeed she grew hatred towards nobles thanks to that, but she still remained calm and she has been working on getting stronger to save her someday. Why shouldn't Ryu do the same and keep himself calm?
Ryu then took a deep breath.
"Ninya, you can let me go. I have collected myself"
Ninya let go of her arms. She looked relieved.
"So, what should we do?"
"I would suggest burning all the corpses out there and in here to lessen the chance of them becoming undead, but since there is a grave matter at hand we will go back to Tranmere for now. I have a small personal library, maybe we can find something about the fox creature"
"That will take too long"
"If you have a better idea I'm all in for it"
"Frohd-dono. We have completed your quest, right?"
"Uhh, yes. I would say so. The bandit camp is done for"
"Then I will take my leave"
The Swords of Darkness team were surprised.
"Ryu-san, are you going to search for her yourself?"
"You can't do that! Whatever kidnapped Lily might be dangerous!"
Ryu turned to face the Swords of Darkness team.
"Which is why you shouldn't come with me. You still have a mission, right? To save Ninya's sister"
"But..."
"My mission is to save Lily. I will complete it or die trying. I won't drag you along"
Frohd let out a loud sigh.
"I knew you would say that. Whatever. Be careful out there"
"Thank you, Frohd-dono"
Ryu was about to leave, but Ninya said something.
"Ryu-san... Please come back safely"
"I will. With Lily as well. Now you guys go back to Tranmere with Frohd-dono and take all the reward"
"W-what?"
"Yes, Peter. Take all the reward from this quest. Consider it my parting gift. You will continue your journey to Re-Estize Capital, right? See you again someday"
Before anyone could say anything, Ryu turned away and ran, leaving them.
[X][X][X]
"Well, let's go back to Tranmere then"
"Hey! W-What about me?!"
Everyone turned to the guy they had forgotten. The only surviving bandit, still tied up to the chair.
"Heh!"
Frohd cut away the rope with a single slice of his knife.
"Just scram. I no longer care about you"
"B-But all my comrades are dead. I have nowhere to go!"
"Do you think I care?"
"Please! Let me stay in the village! I can do any hard labour!"
"Do you think I believe you won't rob anyone blind? Your kind has killed five people from the village. They probably will kill you on sight anyway"
The bandit's face turned pale again. Frohd and the Swords of Darkness group turned away from him and left.
"Uhh... Ahhhh... AAAAAAARRRGGHH!"
The bandit took a short sword from a nearby corpse and charged blindly at the group. Peter deflected the attack, and in an instant Frohd slipped behind and slit the bandit's neck. The bandit then dropped down and bled out. He seemed to smile before his death.
"Choosing death over everything else possible. Pity..."
Everyone else were speechless.
"Let's go back. My right leg is starting to give in"
[X][X][X]
Ryu stood at the front gate of the fort. As far as his eyes could see, there were only open plains and rocks. According to that one bandit, the fox creature had been caught in the woods to the west. There was no visible forest, so it must be quite far.
Ryu drew his weapon out, turned his body towards the west, and charged a tech.
Ilzonde!
He used the tech which propelled him forward at high speed. He used it at full power without jumping, so he left a wide trail of burnt grass, but he didn't care. He only cared about rescuing Lily as soon as possible.
After two casts of fully powered Ilzonde, a rather large forest was in sight. At the edge of the forest, Ryu felt some kind of strange atmosphere from within it. It was difficult to describe the feeling, but he somehow could comprehend that he was not welcome in there.
However, that was all he needed to become sure that Lily was somewhere inside the forest.
"Hang in there, Lily. I will save you"
With that determination, Ryu entered the forest.
During his trek through the thicket of trees within the forest, it seemed for him that at a glance it was just a regular forest. He could notice a few wild animals passing by once in a while, and none so far were hostile to him. Still, the strange atmosphere lingered. He tried to ignore it and continue his trip.
The deeper Ryu went into the forest, the heavier the atmosphere felt for him. He had no idea how many hours he had walked. He was not even sure if the atmosphere indeed became heavier or everything was just in his head. One thing for sure was that his legs started to lose their strength to keep him standing, and his mind started to disorient itself.
"Could this be...?"
Ryu suspected that the entire forest had been set up as a magical trap, but if it was true then he had just fell right into it.
Dammit, I was so stupid walking right into enemy trap.
He rushed to a nearby tree and sat down under it, trying to hide himself from any enemy that might come to capture him. With his deteriorating mind, he tried hard to think of a way to get out of this predicament.
The forest was too thick to blast through with Ilzonde. He would just crash into trees.
He couldn't burn the forest because Lily might get caught in the fire too.
Anti, the tech which was supposed to instantly cure all ailments, had become pretty much useless in this world unlike other techs which got abnormally empowered. Even a full strength cast could barely alleviate this world's minor poison.
Anti!
Ryu tried casting it anyway to see what happens. As expected, it did nothing.
But then Ryu thought of a risky idea.
If he let himself captured by the enemy, they probably would bring him to the place where Lily was held captive. However, it came with a risk of the enemy coming to kill him right then and there instead of capturing him.
His head hurted thinking about it.
I guess I have no choice other than risking it.
With that decision in his mind, Ryu went to a nearby spot where there were a little less trees and sat on the ground right there.
Before long, someone's hand landed on his shoulders.
As expected, I didn't sense them coming.
Ryu closed his eyes, preparing himself for whatever came next.
He never expected what actually came, though.
"Hey, Ryu-san"
[X][X][X]
"Aura discovered a Lizardman village. What do you think of attacking and destroying them?"
"Well, it might be worth a try. But before that, I just remembered the other thing I still have to take care of"
"You mean that time... What was it, Ainz-sama?"
"I received a report through Message from the Eight Edge Assassin I assigned to watch over Ryu. It seems Lily, the companion acting as his vessel, has somehow been kidnapped"
"Ah, how careless of him. Shall I go deliver him a punishment for not properly taking care of the gift from Ainz-sama?"
What is actually going on in this guy's mind? Ulbert, I wish you were here to help me understand.
"No, Demiurge. I intend to aid Ryu in rescuing her if he hasn't already. Otherwise I will have no more means to keep him under surveillance, no? Also, Lily is not that far weaker than my Momon persona, so there is a chance whoever kidnapped her might be the same culprit"
"As expected of Ainz-sama. A great foresight"
"Demiurge, accompany Shalltear to a place for her to rest, and do as I have assigned you to"
Demiurge bowed, and then he and Shalltear left the place.
"Now. First thing first, we need to locate her..."
Ainz pulled a Mirror of Remote Viewing, and then as a standard procedure he casted a bunch of protection spells and anti-detection spells before using the one he was intending to use.
[Locate Object]
The target of the spell was the set of armor he has given to Lily. There was a high chance that the kidnappers had taken the armor away from Lily, but there was also a good chance that wherever the armor was, Lily was not far from there.
"Hmm, one piece is separated quite far from the rest. Now which one should I look at first?"
Ainz decided to look at the group of armor pieces first. He zoomed towards the location signified by the [Locate Object] spell, and what he saw was quite unexpected.
He saw a settlement located in the depths of a forest. There were several houses on the ground and several others set on trees as treehouses. At the spot of what could be the center of the settlement, there was a large circular hole about twenty meters wide and five meters deep surrounded by tight wooden stakes of two meters tall. Inside the hole there was a pink and purple fox creature playfully running around.
What surprised Ainz most was that the residents of the settlement were demihumans. To be exact, foxman. Many of them seemed to be very well built as warriors, but a few equipped as some sort of magic casters were also visible.
"Interesting..."
Ainz continued zooming in, and the view came close to one of the houses on the ground. From the outside it seemed like a storehouse.
"I have to add a few more spells"
Ainz casted several more spells in order to enable him to see indoors, and the Mirror reacted.
"This should do it"
Ainz controlled the Mirror to show the interior of the storehouse. What appeared next was a view of Lily, all tied up and gagged, locked into fetal position. At one corner of the storehouse were a stack of her armor pieces and weapons.
"There she is"
"Ahh, Ainz-sama. Seeing her helpless like that makes me feel... inspired. Would you like me to be in that position in your bedroom?"
Albedo said that with an seducing tone and inviting pose. Ainz's jaw dropped a bit and the light in his eye sockets dimmed.
Seriously? Right in front of the two kids to boot...
"Albedo, this is not the time for that"
"Ahh, my apologies, Ainz-sama!"
Albedo quickly corrected her position.
"Anyway, let's take a look at the single piece..."
Ainz zoomed the mirror out and zoomed back in at the single piece separated from the others. What he saw was Ryu walking through the same forest the foxman village were located, but he was still quite a distance away and he seemed to walk towards a wrong direction. Not to mention that Ainz noticed something else.
"The forest is enchanted with low level confusion and weakness effect. Too weak to affect any of us, but still effective on unprotected humans. It's just a matter of time until he drops"
"What a fool he is, Ainz-sama"
"It is common for humans to let go of their vigilance when something like this happens. But this shows me something"
"What is it, Ainz-sama?"
"His affection with Lily is high. I can use that to my advantage"
"I see, Ainz-sama"
"Aura"
"Yes, Ainz-sama!"
"You are to go aid Ryu in his search for Lily, but make it sounds like you meet him by chance. Also, give him this ring"
Ainz took a simple, plain ring from his dimensional inventory. The ring was a low level item which gave a protection against low level ailments. For Ainz, this ring was trash.
"Right on it, Ainz-sama!"
"Mare"
"Y-yes, Ainz-sama?"
"Watch from a distance and keep yourself unseen. If something threatening happens, aid them. If all else fails, use your Mass Teleport to evacuate"
"I-I will do my best!"
"The rest of the guardians, stand by and be prepared to jump in if needed"
"As. You. Command. Ainz-sama!"
"Understood, Ainz-sama"
[Gate]
Ainz conjured a dark portal, and the twins jumped into it. He closed the portal immediately after that and directed his eyes back to the Mirror of Remote Viewing. The portal had transported the twins at a distance about three hundred meters away from Ryu. So far, Ainz did not see any threat coming, but he still had to remain vigilant.
As ordered, Aura made a quick move to approach Ryu while Mare stayed behind to watch. The harmful enchantment of the forest was too weak for them to give any effect. It took her just half a minute to arrive at Ryu's place. She approached him quietly and put her hand on his shoulder.
"Hey, Ryu-san"
Ryu seemed to be surprised. He turned his head to look at her.
"A-Aura-dono?"
"I was scouting this area and I noticed you! How are you doing!?"
"Aura-dono! Please help me!"
[X][X][X]
Ryu was beyond surprised that the one who had come was not the enemy, but someone he knew quite well. She and her twin had accompanied him during his training back then in Nazarick. She even had provided him with training dummies as target practice, so it was a given that he had conversed with her a few times.
This chance meeting gave Ryu a light of hope. He had to seize the chance.
"Aura-dono! Please help me!"
"Whoa, you look flustered! What happened? But first..."
Aura then gave Ryu the ring Ainz had given her.
"This forest is enchanted. This ring should protect you from the effect"
Ryu then wore the ring over his white gloves. The moment he put it on, he could no longer feel the heavy atmosphere. His mind became clear, and his legs no longer felt weak.
"Woah"
Ryu just expressed his relief without saying any other words.
"So, tell me what happened. And where is Lily?"
Ryu then told Aura about his recent quest which led to Lily getting kidnapped. During his speech, Aura's face didn't show any expression change. She just listened with a straight face.
"Alright, I've heard enough"
"Will you help me, Aura-dono?"
"Well, the reason I was scouting this forest was because of this strange enchantment. Since I was about to investigate the source, we're probably on the same path. So yeah, we can go together"
"Thank you, Aura-dono!"
"There is a hidden foxman village that way. I suppose the source of this enchantment is there"
"I owe you a lot. I don't know what I would do if you weren't here"
"You don't owe me. You owe Ainz-sama"
"Oh, right..."
[X][X][X]
The two of them then started walking towards the hidden foxman village while Mare quietly followed from a distance. Aura could easily keep surveillance to her surroundings and also her twin's thanks to her skills as ranger, sniper, and other range oriented jobs. If something truly threatening came, she would most likely spot them coming from miles away.
Of course, there's no need for Ryu to know all that.
So far, there was nothing of significance Aura could notice. But she still needed to remain vigilant because the unknown enemy might have someone specialized in stealth.
Aura's combat capability was lacking compared to most other guardians of Nazarick. Her strength lied in the form of her tamed monsters in her arsenal, and as of right now she brought none with her. She could do a summoning to bring forth some of them, but it might not be wise to show what was essentially her trump card at this time.
About half an hour later, they were about halfway to the foxman village. So far there was nothing which distrupted their trip. At this rate they would arrive at the foxman village within another half hour.
However...
Beep! Beep!
There was a notification of Message spell ringing in Aura's head.
"Stay silent and don't let Ryu know that you are receiving this message"
It was definitely Ainz's voice on the other side. Aura stayed silent and kept walking with Ryu.
"Listen. You must hurry. The foxmen are up to something bad on Lily"
[X][X][X]
The job of watcher has not been as tough as right now.
This particular Eight-Edge Assassin was in a predicament.
He had been tasked to watch over the guest of Ainz Ooal Gown, namely Ryu, after the decision he had made to go out on his own. For that task, he had been assigned to a living vessel acting as Ryu's companion. This vessel was a low level summoned human creature named Lily.
Thanks to the Reverse Assimilation spell, he could watch over his target without any worry about being detected. Although, the sensation of becoming an assimilated being was a bit strange.
He still could move his body around. He even could walk and run. However, no matter what kind of motion he attempted to do, his position just remained fixed to where the vessel was. He could feel the ground he was standing on, and he could make a jump motion, but even though he could feel himself jumping and landing his feet on the ground, his altitude never changed.
As of right now, the watcher job was tough because the vessel had been taken away from his target. She was kept inside a small storage house within a village of foxman, and she was restrained in a way that she couldn't even move an inch from her spot.
He could see her equipment stored at a corner of the room, but as an assimilated being he could only watch. He had used the only Message scroll he had to contact Ainz, and he was ordered to emerge from the vessel and evacuate her only if he was sure she would die within seconds.
Still, the feeling of being unable to continue with his original task was unsettling.
Quite an amount of hours had passed, and the sun seemed to be starting to set. He wondered if the vessel could last throughout the night at her current state.
Suddenly, the storage room opened. A male foxman, not the same as the one who had abducted the vessel, came in bringing a short, gleaming blue knife. The vessel looked at them with her eyes filled with fear and despair.
The watcher prepared himself to emerge if he sensed an absolute killing intent. However, he didn't feel such thing. The foxman approached the vessel and used the knife to cut away the rope links which had been locking the vessel into fetal position. Now she was able to straighten her body, although her arms and legs were still restrained and her mouth was still gagged.
"Up we go"
The foxman lifted the vessel and carried her with princess-carry stance. At this point the vessel was already too weak and cramped to struggle. The watcher himself, being automatically repositioned as the vessel was carried, kept himself vigilant to things that may unfold soon.
[X][X][X]
Where am I going...?
That was one question running in Lily's mind. She had been tied up in fetal position for what felt like hours, and now that the links had been cut away, her knees and waist felt aching all over. The rest of her body was not any better either. She felt so weak that she couldn't even struggle out of the foxman carrying her.
As she was being carried, she gradually started to hear sounds of chanting. She tried tilting her head a little to see what was going on.
What she saw was several foxmen dressed as shamans lined up in a circle. They were stationed on a mound, chanting to prepare some kind of spell.
Is this the ritual he was talking about...?
Right next to the shaman group mound there were wooden stakes arranged as a fence. The fence seemed to be arranged in a circle shape, surrounding something. From Lily's position she could not see what was behind the fence, but the shamans could from their higher position.
The foxman carried Lily around the circular fence, to the point she could no longer see the shaman group because the fence obscured them from view. On this side of the fence there was a wooden pulley contraption which resembled a large fishing rod. It was put on a base which seemed to be able to rotate horizontally.
The foxman put Lily on the ground under the tip of the contraption, where a long rope was hanging from it. He then tied the rope, linking it to the rope binding her body. After he was done securing the knots, he gave a signal to a fellow foxman operating the contraption. The other foxman turned the pulley, and slowly Lily was pulled up, putting her in suspended position.
Getting suspended made it hard to breathe for her, but now she was raised higher than the fence. Inside the area surrounded by the fence was the same fox creature which was held in the prison cell. The creature looked up to her, and it got excited. It ran around in circles and it seemed to be drooling.
Don't tell me...
The contraption then was rotated towards the area inside the fence, putting Lily suspended above it.
Further behind the shamans from Lily's view, a lone wolfman, the same one she had fought, was standing on an even higher mound than the shamans'
"Zur-ah, brothers! Today we are witnessing a rare event! The Great Femzek has requested a sacrifice by name, and so we obey!"
The crowd all over the place applauded loudly with their fox call. It was loud, making Lily want to cover her ears, but she couldn't because her arms were tied up.
"Once the sun sets, the sacrifice will be purified by holy flame, and The Great Femzek will feast upon it! With this sacrifice, we pray that soon The Great Femzek will grow into a mighty beast, and together, we foxmen will reign supreme!"
Once again, the crowd applauded. From the foxman's speech Lily could easily conclude that they were simply going to roast her and feed her to the so called Great Femzek.
Lily looked at the distant sky. The trees of the forest obscured the sun, but she knew that the sun would set anytime soon.
So this is it...
The contraption then slowly lowered Lily to the ground
I don't even get to live for one week...
A blue flame appeared in the middle of the shaman group.
I regret my failure...
The lowering stopped when she was about the same level as the shamans.
But I did my best...
The shamans chanted louder, and the flame grew bigger.
So, Ryu-sama...
"Let the purifying... begin!"
Wherever you are now...
The shamans chanted differently, and the blue flame was launched straight at Lily. She closed her eyes, accepting her fate.
May you find a better partner than me...
...
...
...
FLASH!
Lily felt something grabbing her and carrying her away, followed by a lot of stinging sensation and a hard landing. She had no idea what had just happened. She slowly opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was the one she did not want to see.
Her master's face, filled with regret and sadness.
[X][X][X]
ILZONDE!
The first thing Ryu did when he saw what the foxmen were about to do to Lily was the only action he could quickly think of to save her.
The tech he just casted propelled him straight at the tied up and suspended Lily. He grabbed Lily while the lightning aura broke the contraption and its ropes. He landed within a stone's throw from the circular fence. Lying down on his arms was Lily, still bound by the enchanted rope. There were several burn marks all over her body and clothes because of Ilzonde's lightning aura.
The leather cloth wrapping Lily's mouth had burned off, so Ryu easily removed it and the stuffing inside her mouth.
"Ryu-sama..."
"I'm sorry for taking this long. And for hurting you"
Lily just smiled.
"It's alright... It's a fitting punishment for failing you..."
"No, you never failed me. It was all my fault"
Resta
With the cast of his healing tech, Lily's burn wounds were cured.
"You there! What have you done to the sacrifice for our Sacred Beast?!"
Hearing the words of the foxman, Ryu's mind was filled with rage.
"Sacrifice...? To that creature...? We were intending to set that thing free, and you... repay that... BY KILLING HER?!"
"We don't care! And never call Great Femzek with 'that thing'! The Sacred Beast asked for a sacrifice and we obey! You humans are no more than food for us!"
Ryu was silent. Hearing those words made his mind overflown with rage.
"Kill him and take back the sacrifice! We still have time!"
The crowd of foxmen charged towards Ryu and Lily. The ranged attackers shot their offensive spells and arrows.
"You... FOUL BEAST!"
Suddenly, an energy barrier appeared, surrounding Ryu and Lily. All the foxmen tried attacking him, but the barrier didn't even get a scratch. No melee strikes, arrows, or fireballs could put a dent on it.
Seeing their futile attempts, the crowd dispersed and stayed at a distance. They waited to see what would happen next.
Soon, the barrier disappeared. And in its place a strange, almost pure white creature appeared. In size, the creature was about human size and the body shape was more or less humanoid. However, attached to its back were three pairs of large arms, each arm was about as big as the creature's body.
Julius Nifta
The creature then teleported right above the enclosed space where Femzek resided. A large blue energy sphere as big as itself appeared right in front of it.
The sphere sucked everything within a large radius around it.
The Great Femzek
The foxmen.
Their houses.
The trees.
The ground itself.
Every single thing were sucked into the sphere, and when they touch it they just disintegrated into nothing.
Once the creature was done with the sphere, it just disappeared. All that was left of the hidden foxman village was just a huge circular crater of red soil and fallen trees that didn't make it to the sphere. Nobody would find any evidence that foxmen used to live there because they would only see a crater two kilometers wide.
[X][X][X]
"What is that thing?"
Albedo questioned, seeing the creature Ryu had just summoned. Nobody in Nazarick has ever seen Ryu summoning a creature like that.
Ainz, on the other hand, knew from his instinct that the creature was dangerous.
[Message]
"Mare! Take Aura, Ryu, and Lily and get out of there! NOW!"
"Y-yes!"
Mare then used his teleportation spell to teleport to Aura, then Mass Teleport to Ryu and Lily, and finally Mass Teleport all four of them away from there.
Ainz knew Mare teleported away on time, although he didn't know where the four of them ended up at. He put that aside, and directed his eyes at the Mirror of Remote Viewing to see what would happen next.
One minute later, the everyone in the room, Ainz included, stood still with their mouths agape.
"Such. Power."
"Ainz-sama. Did my foolish eyes deceive me...?"
"No... Definitely no..."
The sight was unbelievable. That level of destruction was even greater than the Super-Tier spell Fallen Down. No, any Super-Tier spell would be weaker than that. The only thing Ainz could think of which could match that power was Grand Catastrophe, a spell exclusive to World Disaster class. Even that might be still weaker.
At this point, Message was still connected to Mare.
"Mare, where are you?"
"W-We are right in front of Nazarick front gate, Ainz-sama"
"Alright. Stand by"
[Gate]
Ainz conjured a dark portal, and soon Mare and Aura came out from it, followed by Ryu who was carrying the still-bound Lily. She saw Ainz and looked surprised.
"Welcome back to Nazarick, Ryu"
"You know him, Ryu-san?"
Ainz approached Ryu, who just stayed silent.
"I believe your companion would like to be released, Ryu"
"Uhh... they tried but they couldn't. These ropes are enchanted"
"Oh... Excuse me then, Ryu"
Ainz took Lily from Ryu's arms and put her on the floor.
[All Appraisal Magic Item]
"I see... This item normally can only be broken by a specially enchanted blade. But a greater magic power can work just fine"
[Greater Break Item]
The ropes disintegrated into nothing, setting Lily free. She tried moving her arms and legs around, but they ached all over. Ainz noticed her pained face.
"I will have a room prepared for you. You should rest"
"Thank you... Uhh..."
"My name is Ainz Ooal Gown"
Lily tried hard to put herself into proper position, ignoring the pain.
"Thank you for your generosity, Ainz Ooal Gown – dono"
"You can address me with just Ainz. Now, Ryu, you have been silent so far. What's the matter?"
"I... I have done a terrible thing"
"Terrible thing, you say?"
Ryu put his hands on his head.
"I... I commited genocide! What have I done?!"
From Ryu's words, Ainz could conclude that he was shocked on what he had just done. Trying to calm him down with mere speech would be just a waste of time.
"Aura, calm him down"
"Yes, Ainz-sama"
Aura then breathed something from her mouth towards Ryu's face. Upon inhaling it, Ryu's face calmed down. A bit too calm in fact.
"Have you collected yourself?"
"Yes, Ainz-dono"
"Now, explain to me about what you did back there"
"Photon Blast"
"Photon Blast, you say?"
"Every once in a while, I can do a Photon Blast to summon a Photon Beast. My Photon Beast, Julius, is adjusted to create an all-sucking sphere upon being summoned"
"I see. Is that a rare thing from where you came?"
"No. Almost everyone there can do it, each with their own version of Photon Beast. Mine is among the most common. Also, if more than one person do a Photon Blast together, the summoned Photon Beasts come out stronger the more people involved"
Ainz's jaw dropped hearing that. A single, most common beast could devastate such a large area. What would happen if a bunch of hostile soldiers as strong as Ryu summoned rare beasts together? Nazarick would never stand a chance. This is all the more reason to keep Ryu allied with him no matter what.
"I see. In any case, you two should rest. Aura, guide them to the guest room"
"Yes, Ainz-sama!"
Before Aura could show them the way, Lily asked a question.
"Ryu-san. May I know more about Ainz-dono? You seem to already know him for a while"
"Ah..."
Ryu looked at Ainz. At this point keeping it a secret gives no benefit and telling her gives no actual danger, so Ainz nodded. Ryu noticed and nodded too.
"Lily. Ainz Ooal Gown, is your creator"
Lily looked surprised, and she slowly turned her head to Ainz. She then slowly walked to Ainz and kneeled with one knee right in front of him.
"Ainz-dono. Please allow me to express my gratitude for creating me"
"You don't need to. I just thought that Ryu could use a companion"
"It was exactly thanks to that, that now I have the best master I could ever ask for. So... thank you very much"
"Your gratitude is accepted. Now go rest your body"
[X][X][X]
Ryu and Lily got the same bedroom Ryu had used to sleep in back then. Since there was only one bed, they had to share the bed. Lily had offered to sleep on the floor, but Ryu adamantly forced her to sleep on the bed with him.
"Ryu-san"
"Yes?"
"Are you disappointed in me?"
"Why would I?"
"I failed the guard duty and got captured, and you had to go through all that to rescue me"
"It was not your fault. The enemy was more than you could possibly handle"
"No, I was stronger than the foxman, but I got careless and ambushed by the fox creature"
"Two on one is a proof that I was right"
"But..."
"No buts. Look, Lily. You are the best partner I could have ever asked for. No matter how many times this will happen, I will always come to save you again"
There was a silence for a few seconds.
"T-Thank you, Ryu-san. I'm so happy to have you as my master"
Lily leaked tears of happiness saying that.
"Let's go sleep"
Ryu turned away and put on his blanket. He didn't want to melt from seeing Lily's face.
"Ryu-san, may I ask a question?"
"Hmm?"
"I didn't get to see what that Photon Beast do, but it seems Ainz-dono is impressed by its power. Is that truly the most common beast?"
"Yeah, it is the most common because it is arguably the strongest of all, so pretty much everyone changed their assigned beast to that"
"Wait what? Is that an easy matter?"
"Yes, just go to a shop and pay the appropriate price. They will give you a device to change your assigned beast, no questions asked"
"I think Ainz-dono took your words the wrong way"
"Is that so? Should I tell him?"
"Up to you, Ryu-san"
"Well, he and everyone serving him are much stronger than me, so I guess I will keep it this way so he would be impressed on at least one thing I have"
"You sneaky!"
The two of them laughed a little, and then they went to sleep.
[X][X][X]
Meanwhile in the throne room, Ainz was sitting on the throne. The guardians except Demiurge and Shalltear were there with him.
"Listen, guardians. Spread the news to all denizens of Nazarick that Ryu Seika must be treated with respect in the name of Ainz Ooal Gown. He has proven to be capable of doing dangerous feats, and somewhere out there exists thousands of people at least as strong as him. At the current situation we will have no chance to survive if those people turn hostile to us, so this is a necessary step to maintain good alliance with him and hopefully those people as well. I am fully aware that respecting a human might sully our pride, but survival is more important. Heed my command without objections!"
"We will obey your command without objections, Ainz-sama!"
All the guardians replied together.
"Keep in mind to respect him in moderation. An exaggerated favor currying will likely backfire. As for our next step, we will launch an invasion to the lizardman tribes. I will prepare a plan to also bait those who mind-controlled Shalltear at the same time. Stand by until then"
"Understood, Ainz-sama"
The guardians were dismissed, and only Albedo remained by his side.
"So, Ainz-sama. Is now the time?"
"The time for what?"
"For me to be your damsel in distress~~"
Albedo once again said that with inviting pose.
"No. It is never the time for that"
"Aww..."
"Anyway, Albedo. Have you noticed that Lily is now weaker?"
Albedo returned to her stern face and uptight position.
"Yes, unfortunately"
"The Eight Edge Assassin inside her emerged right before Ryu grabbed her. He did not get to do anything, and then he was right under that Photon Beast when it happened. What a waste"
"She also lost all the equipment you gave her, except that one gauntlet"
"That equipment set is trash anyway, so there's pretty much no loss on that matter"
"Are you going to have him pay the loss of the Eight Edge Assassin?"
"I'd like to, but since he had no idea about his existence I have to make him do that without him knowing"
"How would you do that, Ainz-sama?"
"I will have him help me in the lizardman invasion plan"
[X][X][X]
With this chapter volume 3 has been caught up. Thank you for those following so far.
