Hi, all!

Before starting with the chapter, I will answer the one question from Hero600. No, it is not the Hakugei. The answer of what it is will come when, and if, I reach the equivalent of volume 9. Though Ryu already suspected what it was so you can take that with a grain of salt.

Also, I have deleted the one intermission chapter which only had an announcement since it is no longer important and might confuse newer visitors.

Anyway, here is the next chapter. You will notice that I skip events which essentially don't change from canon. Oh, cliffhanger warning. XD


[X][X][X]


Ilmegid

Ryu opened the mock battle versus Cocytus with one of his most reliable techs. Five claws of dark energy, their size almost as big as Ryu himself each, came out from his weapon, and all of them homed in to Cocytus.

"Oh." "I. Know. That. One"

With his halberd, Cocytus slashed at one of the dark claws. The claw got split in two and disintegrated. He immediately did an evasive maneuver combined with a counter attack, and two more claws perished. The remaining two claws managed to strike, but before they could turn around to strike again they also met their demise by Cocytus' hands. The damage taken by Cocytus was very minor.

Ryu was naturally surprised. He had never seen Ilmegid getting intercepted like that.

Cocytus could overcome the attack because he had seen that attack once when Ryu had fought the Primal Fire Elemental, so he was a little familiar with that. He actually had not expected the claws to be destructible, but he had tried it anyway and it had turned out favorable for him.

"Show. Me. Something. Different"

Ryu charged his weapon again.

Ilmegid

Ilmegid

This time he casted the same tech twice in quick succession. A total of ten dark claws came out and homed in on Cocytus.

"Merely. Adding. More. Claws. Won't. Work"

Cocytus gracefully evaded and intercepted the claws. In the end only one claw managed to get one strike in. He had fully familiarized himself with how the claws attacked.

"See?"

However, Cocytus was a little late to realize that a floating card-like object was floating right above his head. It was Seimei Kikami Talis. It was generally weaker than Gal Wind Talis, but similar to Weddle Park Rod, it had an innate ability to strengthen photon techs of Dark Element, which more than made up for it.

Ramegid

A very dark cloud formed right above the card, and a swarm of small spheres of dark energy rained from the cloud. The small spheres made small explosions upon touching either the ground or Cocytus. The damage from each explosion was minor, but they would quickly add up so Cocytus immediately moved aside to his left.

Gimegid

A swarm of smaller dark clouds appeared above and around Cocytus, and all of them simultaneously shot a dark laser to his body.

"Hmph!"

Cocytus jumped up, perfectly evading all the dark lasers. While in the air, he looked at Ryu who was no longer holding his purple rod weapon but seemed to be still in battle stance.

Samegid

Suddenly Cocytus felt that he had been hit a bunch of times by something at his right side. He looked right and saw that the card-like object was still floating there vomitting dark energy needles which left dark trails making them look like a swarm of dark snakes. Cocytus defended himself by spinning his halberd to repel the dark needles. Soon enough, the card object stopped vomitting needles.

Megid

A black sphere quite smaller than the previous dark claws came out from the card and homed in on Cocytus at a speed much slower than the claws before. He landed on the ground while trying to keep watch over Ryu, the card object, and the black sphere. When the black sphere got within his weapon range he slashed it with his halberd.

The sphere exploded with dark energy, dealing some damage to Cocytus and briefly making his vision obscured. He immediately went into defensive stance in case he gets attacked while blinded. It only lasted for three seconds, and when he regained vision he immediately noticed a purple magic circle growing on his body.

He knew what the magic circle was, since he had seen the Primal Fire Elemental's demise coming from this spell. He immediately looked at Ryu, who was already holding his purple rod weapon again.

[Piercing Icicle]

Cocytus shot a bunch of icicles towards Ryu, though he tried to suppress their power and aimed slightly off since this was a spar after all. He didn't want to end up hurting Ryu for real.

Ryu disappeared from sight and a few seconds later reappeared some distance away from the area rained by the icicles. The magic circle disappeared from Cocytus' body.

"That. Spell. Won't. Work. On. Me." "I. Will. Interrupt. Your. Casting."

Samegid

More dark needles came out from Ryu's weapon and homed in on Cocytus.

[Ice Pillar]

A large pillar of ice emerged from the ground in front of Cocytus and shielded him from the dark needles. It snapped in half and disintegrated in the end, but it managed to protect Cocytus successfully.

However, Ryu disappeared from his sight.

Cocytus still could feel that he was being targeted by Ryu, but Ryu was no longer in front of him.

Ilzonde

Cocytus suddenly felt a stinging electric sensation, and then he realized that Ryu was right behind him. Could it be the quick movement lightning spell he had seen once before?

Gifoie

A bunch of fireballs formed around Ryu and moved around him in a circular motion, creating a ring of fire around him which burned Cocytus. Cocytus was caught by surprise with that attack he had never seen before, but his exoskeleton had good fire resistance so the damage from the attack was negligible.

"Impressive. Attack." "Too. Bad. I. Possess. Fire. Resistance"

Cocytus turned around while slashing with his halberd. He intended to stop his swing midway just before hitting Ryu, but he sensed that Ryu was already evading with that evasion move so he went through with it.

"Do. You. Have. More. Tricks. Up. Your. Sleeve?"

Sazonde

A small ball of lightning came out from Ryu's weapon and headed straight to Cocytus. Being a little curious, he received it head on. But the ball only stuck to his body without doing any damage.

Zonde

A large lightning bolt from the sky struck Cocytus hard. Moreover, the lightning ball detonated, enveloping him in a continuous and tremendous shocking pain. The shock stopped after a few seconds.

"I. Definitely. Felt. It." "Impressive."

Ryu put down his weapon.

"Are you alright, Cocytus-dono? Did I overdo it?"

"No. Worries." "Let's. Continue. If. You. Are. Not. Out. Of. Mana. Yet"

Ryu went back into battle stance again.

"No worries. I naturally regenerate mana very quickly. I go from empty to full within fifteen seconds"

"Incredible." "Is. That. Common. In. Your. Origin?"

"My combat class enables faster regeneration, but not that much. So yes, it is common"

"I. See." "Come. At. Me. Again"

The two of them fought for a total of half an hour. Cocytus, being a warrior with pride, took interest on how his opponent fought, so he had been intentionally holding back from attacking Ryu while half-mockingly telling him to use something different each time.

"Alright, I lost"

Ryu said that while having Cocytus' halberd pointed right at his face and running out of breath. His mana had quick regeneration but his body's stamina was another matter.

"You. Fought. Well."

Cocytus put his weapon down. There were signs of damage all over his exoskeleton armor.

Ryu immediately fell into sitting position on the ground. His body was quite exhausted from all the tech casting and evasion moves he had done. Cocytus soon sat down next to him.

"Are you alright, Cocytus-dono?"

"Nothing. To. Worry. About" "What. About. You?"

"Just running out of breath. I will heal you back"

Ryu put up his Weddle Park and casted the healing tech while still sitting down.

Resta

With the single cast, Cocytus' exoskeleton came back as good as new. Ryu was a little surprised seeing that.

"Thank. You."

"I honestly didn't think my healing spell could repair damaged armor like that"

"This. Armor. Is. My. Body."

"Wait... doesn't that mean..."

"While. It. Is. Not. Wrong. To. Say. That. I. Am. Naked. I. Would. Prefer. That. You. Don't. Say. It. Out. Loud."

"Alright. Will keep that in mind"

"Nevertheless." "I. Want. To. Know. If. You. Were. Holding. Back. Like. I. Did"

"Yeah, I reduced the power of my attacks. Ainz-dono will kill me if I accidentally harm you severely, or worse"

"Do. You. Think. You. Can. Beat. Me. If. We. Fight. For. Real?"

"I don't think so. You intentionally left yourself full of openings, didn't you?"

"True." "But. Don't. Put. Yourself. Low."

"By the way, Cocytus-dono. Thank you"

"For. What?"

"You see, I specialize in Dark Element spells, but I have never used them in this world outside Nazarick. I've been afraid people would freak out and assume weird things if they see my Dark spells, even though they are merely dark colored energy projections. Thanks to this spar I could finally go all out with my Dark spells after quite a long time"

"I. See." "By. The. Way." "I. Also. Want. To. Know. If. You. Are. Among. The. Strongest. Back. In. Your. Place"

"I'm not the best, but I still can work as a team with the best ones without becoming a hindrance. That's all I can say"

"Hmm..."

There was a silence for a moment.

"I wonder if the others have made it to escape from the disaster"

"Your. Comrades?"

"Yeah. Especially my brother and sister"

"You. Have. Siblings?"

"Oh yes, I haven't told anyone else yet. I have a brother and a sister. They were away on a mission when the disaster struck, so at least I can be certain they are still out there somewhere"

"Are. They. Strong?"

"Different combat class, but yeah. We are about equal"

"Tell. Me. More. About. Them. If. You. Don't. Mind"

"Sure. My brother is Yukasa Seika. He is a Ranger, and my sister is Hikaru Seika. She is a Braver. Oh, maybe instead of Braver you are more familiar to the word Samurai"

"Samurai..."

There was a silence for a few seconds.

"Is something wrong, Cocytus-dono?"

Without saying anything, Cocytus opened some kind of a small portal next to his right arms. One arm reached into the portal, and then he pulled something from it. It was a curved thin sword normally used by a samurai, but this one was very long.

"My. Creator. Is. A. Samurai." "This. Is. From. Him"

"Your creator?"

"A. Supreme. Being. Equal. To. Lord. Ainz." "But. He. Is. No. Longer. Here"

"What happened?"

"He. Left." "Like. Many. Other. Supreme. Beings" "Only. Lord. Ainz. Stayed. With. Us"

"Oh..."

Without saying anything, Cocytus put away the long sword back into the portal.

"Do. You. Mind. If. I. Tell. Lord. Ainz. About. Your. Siblings?" "He. Might. Be. Able. To. Find. Them"

"I don't think they are anywhere within his reach, but go ahead"

Ryu was certain that Yukasa and Hikaru were still among the ARKS by now, so whether Ainz knew their names or not would not matter at all. He indeed hoped to get back together with them again, but until now there was still no lead to the remains of the Gate Ship, if it existed at all. By this time they might already consider him Killed in Action.

Cocytus and Ryu talked for a while until it was time for another strategic meeting which brought no change. Ryu kept wondering if he really would contribute any meaningful things at this rate.


[X][X][X]


The boring and stagnant days passed, and it was finally the day of the invasion.

Ryu was not interested in the war, so when the battle was about to begin, he stepped outside the outpost building and stood around doing nothing.

"Advance."

Ryu could hear that one word from Cocytus as he walked out. He was using some kind of messaging spell to command the troops

The battlefield was distant from this place, so there was no way Ryu could see the battle unless he went back into the outpost and watch with everyone else using the large mirror hung on the wall like a flatscreen TV.

While thinking about how to pass time, Ryu remembered something.

He was still wearing the necklace from Ainz. The one supposed to grant flight but he could never manage to use properly.

Did Ainz forget to take this back? Or is he still waiting for me to return this by my own accord?

No matter which case, now Ryu still had the necklace. He then decided to try out the necklace again while waiting for the battle to conclude.

Back then he told me to focus my mind on this. I'll try that again.

Nothing happened.

Then I tried charging some photon energy into it.

Ryu's feet left the ground slowly. Like before, he only managed to go up and down vertically with no horizontal movement at all.

I didn't try this because it was risky, but...

Ryu charged even more photon energy into the necklace. He had been only giving a miniscule amount compared to what he could do, but now he charged an amount similar to when he wanted to cast a tech. To be precise, the same amount as if he was about to cast a controlled version to avoid collateral damage.

Alright, now... Fly!

Right after speaking the word in his mind, Ryu left the ground at high speed. This time, it fully worked. He could move in all directions, and controlling the movement was easy enough.

So the solution is just as simple as more photon?

Ryu was very excited. He had never done something like this. Flying by himself and feeling the wind breeze on his face. He thought about things he could do in the future with this ability, but then he remembered that he should return the necklace to Ainz.

Guess I better enjoy this while it lasts.

Ryu flew around the area of the outpost, enjoying himself in his flight. Every once in a while he felt that his flight weakened, and all he had to do was to channel photon into the necklace to refresh the flight power.

Still, after quite a while he got a little bored, so he landed near the outpost building. After his feet firmly stepped on the ground, he removed the necklace from his neck and put it into photon inventory.

Right after that, Cocytus came out from the outpost.

"Ryu." "We. Are. Going. Home."

"Is the battle over?"

"Yes."

There was a silence for a few seconds.

"We. Lost."

See? I told you.

Ryu wanted to say that right on Cocytus' face, but Cocytus probably was already depressed and ashamed so he decided to not rub more salt into the wound.

"What will happen now?"

"Lord. Ainz. Has. Called. Me. Already." "The. Blame. Is. All. On. Me. So. Don't. Worry."

After Cocytus spoke, a dark portal appeared nearby.

"That. Gate. Is. For. You."

Ryu looked at the portal and walked to it. Right before going in he stopped, looked at Cocytus, and spoke.

"Good luck, Cocytus-dono. Until we meet again"

Cocytus just nodded, and then Ryu went into the portal. After crossing the portal, Ryu found himself in a grand bedroom, which might be Ainz' personal bedroom, and right in front of him stood Ainz and Lily. Without any warning Lily jump-hugged him, nearly causing him to fall down to the floor.

"Welcome back, Ryu-san! I missed you!"

"I missed you too, Lily"

The two of them immediately heard the sound of throat clearing. It was Ainz reminding them of his presence. Lily released her hug, and both she and Ryu stood firmly facing Ainz.

"Welcome back, Ryu. I heard the result of the battle through my underlings"

"I'm sorry about that..."

"It's not your fault. Like I said before, every final decision over there was made by Cocytus. As for your verdict, I will need some more time to evaluate the full reports. You will be called back later"

"Alright then"

"Until then, feel free to walk around as you like. Except the throne room since I will hold an audience there shortly"

"Then please excuse us"

After saying that, Ryu left the room with Lily. After he went past the door, he remembered something.

Ah, I forgot to return the necklace. Oh well, I will do that when he calls me back.

Not long later, an audience session was in motion in the throne room with all guardians present. Ryu and Lily both had no idea what happened in there.


[X][X][X]


Tomb of Nazarick, Ainz's Office Room, Two Hours After Audience Session

Ainz was alone sitting behind his desk in the room. Everything has been set into motion, and all he had to do was to wait until the time came. However, right now he was expecting to meet someone.

Soon enough, someone knocked on the door.

"You may come in"

The door clicked and slowly opened, revealing the towering humanoid insect figure he knew very well.

"Sit down over there, Cocytus"

Ainz pointed at the seat right across the table in front of him. Cocytus complied and sat down there. It was very clear that his massive body was far too large for the seat, but it still held anyway.

"So..."

Ainz leaned forward, putting his arms folded on the desk.

"Tell me about the results of your secret mission"

"As. You. Command. Ainz. Sama"

Cocytus presented a stack of paper to Ainz, who received it and immediately began reading it. Unlike the time with the Kashin Koji spy, this time Ainz read the papers carefully word by word. The amount of papers was less and this time he was not too pressed on time. Moreover, everything written there was very likely to be important for the future of Nazarick.

"Dark homing claws... I saw that once" "Oh, interesting. So he has another weapon with him. Something that is thrown and then temporarily acts as the caster. Truly intriguing"

The papers contained every info about Ryu's combat capabilities which Cocytus had witnessed during their spar. In addition to that, every little detail outside combat Cocytus had learned were written there too.

"So you're saying that you took quite a beating, and he was still holding back"

"Yes." "Although. I. Purposedly. Made. Myself. Full. Of. Openings. So. He. Had. Chances."

"Indeed, you have also written that here. And he realized that... Eh, what!?"

"What's. The. Matter. Ainz. Sama?"

"Ah, nothing. I just reached the part where you say that Ryu has a brother and a sister. He had never told me about that before"

Ainz continued reading the papers. He learned the fact that Ryu's brother and sister were equally strong like him, though with different classes.

"Ranger, and Samurai"

So samurai exists even in outer space. In any case, Yukasa and Hikaru... I better keep those names in mind.

"Cocytus"

"Yes. Ainz. Sama"

"You did a fine job. With this intelligence data, we are now several steps closer to uncovering how people from Ryu's origin fight, and therefore we will be more educated and prepared if, in worst case scenario, those people become hostile to us"

"I. Don't. Deserve. Such. Praise. After. Failing. My. Main. Mission."

"You have learned your lesson from that, so like I said it still has meaning. This is a different matter and you successfully did it"

"Thank. You. Ainz. Sama."

"You are dismissed. We will meet again tomorrow"

"Then. Please. Excuse. Me."

Cocytus stood up and left the room. Ainz leaned back to his seat with one hand still holding the papers. He sighed a little.

There could have been more data if I have asked the twins to pay close attention to his training back then, but oh well...

If possible, Ainz did not want to end up in a situation where the data would be useful, but better be prepared than having nothing at all.

Now how should I reward him for giving me this data, although unwittingly?


[X][X][X]


Tomb of Nazarick, Throne Room, One Hour Past Sunrise

Ryu and Lily had been summoned to the throne room. In front of them Ainz was sitting on the throne with Albedo at his side. Both Ryu and Lily kneeled to show respect.

"Rise up and hear the words of Supreme Lord Ainz Ooal Gown"

Ryu and Lily stood up.

"Ryu, as you already know, I am going to present you the results of your evaluation. But before that, do you have anything to say?"

"Only one thing"

Ryu then put his right hand into his coat and took the flight necklace from his photon inventory. He then presented the necklace to Ainz.

"I apologize for forgetting to return this after all this time"

"Oh, the necklace from back then. Alright then"

Ainz reached out his right hand, and the necklace floated away from Ryu's hand into Ainz's hand. He then opened a small portal and put the necklace into it.

"Back then we were in a hurry, so now I will tell you about that. It is a magic item containing Fly magic, which in this world is a third tier spell. It is quite strange that you were unable to use it"

"I just recently found out that I can use it, but it requires me to charge my mana into it"

"Oh, that's interesting. Magic item normally doesn't require anything from the user, and in most cases even a commoner without magic ability can use it. Well, in any case, thank you for finally remembering to return it"

Ryu felt a little uncomfortable. Ainz's last sentence sounded like a teasing. Was it intentional?

"Alright, back to the main topic. The verdict for your performance is..."

Ainz stopped talking as if he wanted to build up the atmosphere. Thankfully the silence only lasted for a few seconds.

"...Exceptional. Therefore I declare in the name of Ainz Ooal Gown that from this point you no longer owe me anything"

Hearing what Ainz had just said, Ryu was so delighted that he was starting to doubt if it was real. He believed that he had contributed almost nothing, but Ainz said otherwise.

"It seems you are having a hard time believing it. Let me just say that my judgement is not merely from the battle result alone"

"Thank you, Ainz-dono"

Ryu bowed in gratitude.

"I will be leaving this tomb for a while. Like before, do you want to stay here or be transported somewhere?"

"Since my work here is done, please send me back to E-Rantel like before"

"Alright then"

Ainz reached out his right hand, and a portal appeared near Ryu and Lily.

"Like before, the other end of the portal is the woods near the city. Good luck in your future endeavors, Ryu and Lily"

"Thank you, Ainz-dono"

Ryu walked to the portal, but then he suddenly stopped right in front of it.

"Ah, sorry! There's something else I forgot to return!"

Ryu hastily took something off from his hand. It was the ring given by Aura back then in the foxman forest.

"Oh, you can keep that ring. You never know if it will become useful again in the future"

"Really? Thank you again, Ainz-dono. If someday you need some extra help you can call us again"

"I will keep that in mind"

Ryu walked into the portal and disappeared from sight. Lily stood still for a moment and then she looked at Ainz.

"Bye, Papa!"

Right after that she quickly jumped into the portal, leaving Ainz sighing and Albedo smiling a little.


[X][X][X]


Dummy Nazarick, Noon, A Few Minutes Before Cocytus Go Into Battle Against Lizardman

"The show is about to begin. Let's enjoy watching Cocytus in action"

Ainz and all guardians present in the room paid a close attention towards the large mirror hung on the wall. On the display they could see a few hundreds of lizardman warriors leaving the village.

"Anything unusual, Aura?"

"Nothing out of place, Ainz-sama!"

"Alright then"

Ainz observed the lizardman warriors some more. He could also notice a few that seemed to be more exceptional than the others, including the two who had come to him during the show of power event.

He also noticed a small wooden cart filled with dry leaves to the brim. One warrior was pushing it along with the crowd.

"He's probably a medic or something carrying medicinal herbs. Pity that he won't have anyone to rescue"

Ainz deduced that they prepared a conventional way to treat the wounded in case their magic caster would run out of mana to heal, so there was nothing weird about it.

"It is time. Show me what you are capable of, Cocytus"


[X][X][X]


[Ice Pillar]

Two large pillars made from ice emerged between Cocytus and the lizardman warriors.

"This. Might. Be. Rude. To. Warriors. Who. Are. Ready. To. Give. Their. Lives." "But. I. Must. Inform. You. That. My. Side. Of. These. Pillars. Will. Be. Your. Grave." "Any. Who. Cross. It. Shall. Die."

The lizardman warriors seemed to discuss among themselves for a few moments. After that, most of them turned back and returned towards their village. A small wooden cart was left behind by them, and it just stood there motionless.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Cocytus"

One of the lizardman, seemingly the leader, said that. Cocytus gave them a hand gesture, signaling them to come.

"CHARGE!"

The warriors rushed at Cocytus. However, before they passed the ice pillars...

Something jumped from the wooden cart, rushed at Cocytus with incredible speed, abruptly stopped right in front of him, and did a series of blade slashes at him.

Cocytus, being caught by surprise, took the full brunt of the attack. The damage he had received was not much, but not something to be ignored either.

"A. Surprise. Attack?" "Impressive."

The thing that had attacked him retreated a bit. Cocytus finally got a full view of it.

To his surprise, it was not a lizardman.

It was a human, a rather short human girl. She wore a rather large dark red beret hat, and underneath that she had even darker red hair which was long, reaching down to her waist. Her outfit was a dark red long coat seemingly made of wool reaching about halfway through her thighs, and underneath the coat was a skintight suit with the color combination of white, dark orange, gray, and black, which covered her body from neck to just under her waist. She wore calf-length boots of the same color combination. Her weapon seemed to be a katana, which was now covered in the black scabbard. Her green eyes had a sharp gaze, the face of a fighter fully determined to fight.

"What. Is. A. Human. Doing. In. Lizardman. Village?"

"Let's just say that I owe them a bit and I'm going to repay them by defeating you!"


[X][X][X]


"Who the hell is that!? Why didn't our surveillance notice her!?"

"Please forgive me, Ainz-sama! I was too focused on anyone coming from outside and not paying attention to anyone already inside!"

Aura frantically bowed to Ainz, feeling ashamed. Ainz looked at the human and knew very well that her outfit was too modern for this world's level of civilization. By all chances she might be a player like him.

[Message]

"Cocytus! Forget the battle! We're going in to aid you!"

"No! Wait! Ainz. Sama!"

"What!?"

"This. Is. Just. A. Single. Human. Fighter. Allying. With. The. Lizardman."

"So what?"

"We. Never. Forbid. Them. To. Bring. Reinforcements." "We. Must. Not. Break. Our. Promise."

Cocytus was right, however...

"To hell with promise and your warrior pride! I care more about your survival!"

"Please. Allow. Me. A. Minute. To. Have. A. Word. With. Her."

Ainz was about to deny the plea out of his panic, but his emotion override kicked in.

"...Alright, but the moment I see something off we all will jump in and kill her on the spot"

"Thank. You. Ainz. Sama"

"Guardians, be prepared for quick action when needed"


[X][X][X]


"Who were you talking to? That skeleton dude?"

Cocytus felt uncomfortable hearing his supreme lord addressed as mere 'skeleton dude', but he had to keep his cool or things will turn to a mess.

"Please. Answer. My. Question." "Who. Are. You. And. Why. Are. You. Siding. With. The. Lizardman?"

The girl, still in battle stance, replied.

"Why should I answer that?"

"Please. Be. Aware. That. My. Supreme. Lord. Is. Watching." "The. Moment. He. Sees. Something. Off. He. And. All. His. Guardians. Will. Come. At. You. And. All. Lizardman. Behind. You." "Therefore. For. Everyone's. Safety. I. Highly. Recommend. You. To. Answer. Truthfully."

"Tch... Fine. My name is Rose. I was stranded and wounded, and they took care of me"

Rose put off her battle stance after saying that.

"Are. There. Other. Humans. With. You?"

"I'm the only one"

"I. See." "Then. The. Battle. Will. Continue. As. Planned." "If. You. Or. Any. Lizardman. Behind. You. Defeat. Me. My. Supreme. Lord. Will. Leave. You. Be."

Cocytus looked up.

"Do. You. Agree. Ainz. Sama?"

Beep! Beep!

"Aura has not seen anything unusual. Continue the battle. Also, try to not kill that human if possible. I have questions I would like her to answer"

"Thank. You. For. Your. Approval. Ainz. Sama"

Cocytus looked at Rose.

"Are. You. Ready?"

Rose went into battle stance.

"Ready as you are"

"Come. At. Me."

A white mist came out from Cocytus' body, and the battle began.

Rose dashed forward like before, but with less speed. Cocytus prepared himself to deflect her attacks, but she stopped a fair distance out of their weapons' reach. She quickly pulled her katana out and slashed upwards at thin air.

"Hatou Rindou!"

A geyser-like energy shockwave came out from the ground in front of her and quickly advanced towards Cocytus while growing larger and larger.

Cocytus evaded to his left side, but the shockwave was already large enough to still hit him. He didn't take the full brunt of the attack but it still did some damage on him. Rose sheathed her katana while still in battle stance. It seemed that her fighting style was something similar to Iaido.

"Asagiri Rendan!"

Without wasting any more time, Rose dashed towards Cocytus and once again did a series of slashes with her katana. Though this time Cocytus was more prepared so he managed to defend against the attack. Once the series of slashes was over, he did a strike with his halberd. However...

Rose quickly sheathed her katana and blocked the strike completely with the scabbard. That shouldn't have been possible, but it happened with some kind of energy shield visible for a fraction of a second. The perfect blocking made Cocytus flinch, and Rose immediately counter-attacked with a single slash.

"Sakura-Endou!"

Rose did two wide diagonal slashes, making an 'X' with those slashes. A small part of Cocytus' armor chipped off. Cocytus attacked with his halberd, but once again the strike was blocked with the sheathed katana and countered.

"Shunka Shunran!"

Rose did a slower series of heavy slashes, four in total. The last strike was the most powerful. Another small part of Cocytus' armor chipped off.

Rose dashed away from Cocytus with high speed, and then she turned around and raised her katana pointing upwards. At this point it could be seen that the blade of her katana was of violet color. The katana shined brightly, and Cocytus knew that it was going to be a dangerous attack.

"Kazan... Nadeshiko!"

A towering energy blade, about at least twenty meters long, emerged from the katana and Rose did a vertical downward slash with it. The attack left a large long hole on the ground. Thankfully Cocytus evaded to the side, so he was unharmed by that attack. Cocytus looked at Rose and saw that the energy blade had disappeared so it probably only lasted for one strike.

"Impressive." "I. Must. Get. More. Serious."

Cocytus opened a small portal next to him and took the same long katana he had once shown to Ryu; God Slaying Emperor Blade.

"So you're capable of using a katana too, huh?"

"I. Am. The. Weapon. Master. Of. Nazarick." "I. Can. Use. Any. Weapon."

Cocytus charged at Rose and did a horizontal slash. Like before, Rose blocked it with the scabbard and did a counter slash. The damage from the counter slash was relatively minor, but it was annoying for Cocytus that so far none of his attacks managed to score a hit because of the strange blocking-and-countering move.

Therefore he tried something different.

He once again slashed with his sword, but right at the moment Rose raised her scabbard to block, he intentionally curved the direction of his slash, missing her completely. He then quickly and immediately did a second slash, and it was still blocked. However, there was no counter slash and Rose was pushed back by the force. Cocytus' feint slash seemed to be effective to prevent the perfect blocking.

"Ugh... A feint, huh?"

"I. Am. A. Warrior." "I. Learn. And. Adapt. To. Your. Moves."

"Hatou Rindou!"

Rose unleashed the shockwave attack again, but this time Cocytus didn't evade. Instead, he made a horizontal slash which created a crescent-shaped shockwave. Both Rose's and Cocytus' shockwave clashed, creating a dirt explosion.

Not wasting any time, Cocytus dashed at Rose and did a horizontal slash similar to his feint before. Rose, thinking that it was another feint, delayed her blocking. But Cocytus saw her intention and quickly did a straight punch to the stomach with one of his free arms.

It was a clean hit. Rose was thrown back by the force, and she rolled all the way to the spectating lizardman warriors. She was still awake, but she coughed blood as she slowly tried to stand up.

"I. Must. Have. Broken. Some. Bones." "It. Seems. You. Are. Out. Of. The. Battle. Now."

One of the lizardman warriors approached the pained Rose and reached his hand.

"Minor Cure Wounds"

A green light covered Rose, and her condition seemed to be stabilize.

"You have done well. Now leave it to us"

"But..."

"From the beginning, our lives are not worth dying for"

Without saying anything further, the lizardman walked forward and faced Cocytus.

"Cocytus. Would you honor my, Shasuryu Sasha, request for you to let the human girl live?"

"I. Will. At. Least. See. If. I. Can. Convince. My. Supreme. Lord."

"Thank you"

Shasuryu then looked at all the warriors behind him. All of them nodded, and he nodded too.

"CHARGE!"

"Oooooh!"

The lizardman warriors charged at Cocytus, and their battle began.

And then the battle ended quickly with all the lizardman warriors dead by his hands.

"That. Was. An. Impressive. Battle."

Cocytus walked forward to see Rose's condition and also take her to Ainz. However, something was off when he saw her.

She was standing still, her outfit being different than before. She now no longer wore her beret hat. Her top had changed to a dark red blazer with a bow ribbon on her neck. Underneath the unbuttoned blazer was a greenish grey shirt. She wore a pleated short skirts with frills at its end, and she wore a simple pair of black boots with similar frills at their top end.

Her face clearly showed that she was mourning, with tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Why... did this have to happen?"

Cocytus did not speak. He decided to be careful about his actions.

"They were just living their lives, and you... all of you... just trampled on them like that"

Cocytus was still silent.

"I... will not... forgive you..."

Rose reached out forward with her right hand, and something appeared with a flicker of light. It was a violet colored rod-like weapon with a magic circle constantly twirling at its head. Rose grabbed the weapon and held it straight at Cocytus.

"Do. You. Still. Wish. To. Fight. Rose?"

"I am not Rose. My name is Meru, and I will kill you all"

Right after saying that, the rod vomitted out five claws of dark energy which homed in on Cocytus.

Seeing what just happened, it dawned on Cocytus.

This human girl definitely came from the same origin as Ryu.


[X][X][X]


Afterword:

I am aware that Cocytus acted a little out of character, but I couldn't think of another way to prevent Ainz and all guardians from jumping into the battle and making the duel a total curbstomp. Sorry about that.

So yeah, I have decided to add a new ARKS character. She is the character I played as in the Japan server of the game, and her name is Mel Rose. Her backstory setting I thought up for her is that she has double personality. Her complete backstory and her character sheet will be provided in a later chapter.

As about how each of her personality looks like, here's a link: (as usual you have to replace dot with actual dot and remove the spaces)

sta dot sh/220rl2a1s1uo