Hi, all! Author here again!

I'd like to tell you that the gallery I posted in the previous chapter has been updated to add more visuals. If you have difficulties with the link (This site doesn't help at all in that matter), feel free to tell me. I will be glad to help you.

sta dot sh/220rl2a1s1uo

Here is the next chapter. See you again in the afterword.


[X][X][X]


"What the hell...?"

That was the only thing coming out from Ainz's mouth when he witnessed the thing happening in the mirror's display. Those five claws of dark energy spell was clearly the same as Ryu's spell. That could only mean one thing; That girl came from the same place as Ryu.

"This is an unexpected turn of events"

Ainz fully agreed with Demiurge's remark. The lizardman tribes being aided by an outsider was already unexpected, but the helper being strong enough to fight toe to toe with Cocytus, and also turning out to be another space army member like Ryu made it even more unexpected. Only a crazy prepared madman would expect this kind of scenario.

To make matters worse, now he had to deal with a hostile member of the space army. Even though he had tried his best to prepare for this kind of scenario, he had not expected it to happen this soon. Moreover, if Ryu later decided to side with his fellow member the absolute worst case scenario would inevitably happen.

Thankfully, thanks to the knowledge from the recent secret mission, Cocytus was still holding well in the ongoing fight. However, the outcome of the battle was still uncertain.

"I want to hear a quick suggestion about what we should do"

"Killing her and erasing her corpse from existense is the simplest way, but we won't gain any new information from her, and there is still a chance that we will be found out by the people from her origin"

"I would prefer to not killing anyone if there's no clear benefit to be gained, Demiurge. And the disadvantage of that action is as clear as you said"

"Ainz-sama, how about trying to gain her favor and make her our ally like Ryu?"

"That is easier said than done because we're off from a very bad start, Albedo. Though indeed if we somehow can do that it is the most ideal outcome"

"P-Pardon me. How about we summon Ryu and see what he would say?"

"I was about to do that, Mare. But I fear that Ryu might end up siding with her, and our work of making him our ally so far would just go to waste"

None of the visible options so far were guaranteed to provide their best outcome. But once again Ainz reminded himself that risk must be taken to go forward.

[Message]

"Cocytus. Try to stall the battle as long as you can. We will do something on our end to address this turn of events"

"Understood. Ainz. Sama"

Without wasting any more time, Ainz casted another Message spell. It would be the easiest to target Ryu, but Ainz had tested it several times and somehow the spell had never managed to connect to Ryu.

Therefore, his target was Lily.

"Lily"

"What?" "Ah, nothing, Ryu-san. I thought I heard Ainz-dono's voice"

It was clear that Lily still had no knowledge of Message spell yet. But at least it gave Ainz the information that Ryu was together with Lily.

"Lily. I am using a messaging magic to call you. Tell me where you are right now"

"Ah, we're in our room at the inn. The same one we were using when you summoned us"

"Something urgent just came up. I need both of you to come here. I will conjure the portal shortly"

"Alright, Ainz-dono. We will be there!"

Ainz ended the Message spell.

[Gate]

A dark portal appeared in front of Ainz, and within seconds both Ryu and Lily came out from it in a hurry.

"What's happening?"

"The lizardman has an outsider helping them, and it seems the helper is from the same origin as yours"

"What!?"

Ryu was naturally very surprised hearing the news. Ainz looked at the mirror hung on the wall, and Ryu took the hint. He also looked at the mirror, and he saw the ongoing battle between Cocytus and the outsider.

"Do you know her, Ryu?"

"Not at all. Can we stop the battle and reason with her?"

"Unfortunately, she sided with the lizardman and now she has determined herself to kill us all starting from Cocytus. Unless you have a better idea, we will have no choice but to kill her in self defense"

"No, please don't. Could you instead incapacitate and take her prisoner in that case?"

Ainz felt strange hearing Ryu's suggestion. Ryu had decided that too easily despite likely knowing that even with Cocytus' best effort to avoid dealing fatal damage, his fellow space soldier would be harmed.

Come to think of it, I have never asked about how close their bonds are in the army. I have been only focusing on their combat capability.

"Are you sure about that? Your fellow people will be harmed despite the best effort from Cocytus"

"If the only other choice is killing her, so be it"

"Alright then"

[Message]

"Cocytus, incapacitate her and bring her to me"

"Understood."

The Message spell ended, and Ainz continued watching the battle through the mirror. This was the first time he saw a serious battle between a guardian and one of the space army members, so he thought that he should gather info as much as he could.

"Ryu, what do you say about her? Do you think she is stronger or weaker than you?"

"I can't gauge it from here, but there's something that has my attention"

"What is it?"

"Her weapon. I have never seen anything like that"

"You know nothing about it?"

"Yeah. I'm not sure, but if I don't know about it then it might be a twelve star weapon"

Twelve star? Is that their way of categorizing item value?

"I think you need to explain how that works in your origin"

"Our equipment is tiered with star amount according to our rank and feats we have achieved. one to three stars are pretty much training equipment. Four to six stars are generally greenhorn equipment. Seven to nine stars are for intermediate operatives. Ten star is for high ranked ones. Eleven star is for those among the best, and twelve star is for the outstanding ones. I think only one in ten thousand can get their hands on a twelve star"

Ainz listened to Ryu's explanation intently. If the girl's weapon was indeed twelve star like Ryu said, it would mean that the little girl was stronger than Ryu. Ainz felt very strange once again, seeing that a little girl like her could be stronger than Ryu who looked like a man in mid 30s.

"For reference, this rod of mine, Weddle Park, is eleven star"

Ryu drew out his purple rod weapon while saying that. He then reached his free hand into his coat and pulled a large feather. Could it be the feather described in Kashin Koji's report?

"And this talis, Gal Wind, is twelve star. The only twelve star I have"

What?

"Ryu. You told me that you are just a regular operative without special achievements, yet you have a twelve star weapon?"

"I just got lucky in a major battle. I don't consider it a real achievement worth mentioning"

This guy is way too humble it feels annoying to me.

"Anyway, does that mean that girl is stronger than you?"

"Maybe, but so far her movements seem a little sloppy, and she has been mostly only spamming Gimegid with the talis she just recently changed into"

Ainz couldn't help but agree. So far the girl has been mostly only summoning small dark clouds which shot dark lasers to Cocytus, and he always evaded successfully. Sometimes she summoned dark claws from the so-called talis weapon, which seemed to belong to the same visual theme as the rod she had previously used. Cocytus easily intercepted all the claws with the God Slaying Emperor Blade. At this rate Cocytus would surely win.

Cocytus was about to strike at the girl, but suddenly she was covered in an energy barrier, and therefore Cocytus' attack was deflected.

"Oh, Photon Blast"

"You don't say!"

Ainz knew that very well already. The image of the energy barrier and the calamity that follows had been drilled into his mind ever since that time. Probably Cocytus knew it as well, but better safe than sorry.

[Message]

"Cocytus! It's a Photon Blast! Get out of there!"

Without saying anything, Cocytus jumped back and kept his distance. He readied himself to run away if the thing about to come out really was the same Photon Beast as the one Ryu had summoned once.

But it was different.

When the barrier disappeared, the beast which appeared near the girl was shaped like a skeletal floating fish, although with the same glimmering white color theme as Ryu's Photon Beast.

"Oh, most likely Ketos Proi. It's harmless"

The floating fish circled around and above the girl, and she was covered in blue energy.

"Yeah, it's Ketos Proi"

"Tell me about it, Ryu"

"Ketos Proi is a support type. It gradually heals allies within range and hugely boosts their mana regeneration, to the point that you can pretty much consider your mana always full if it is active"

"Is it rare?"

"Like my Julius Nifta, Ketos Proi is among the most common"

Now I have to worry about the possibility of a bunch of soldiers who can turn huge areas into craters and then spam their spells like there's no tomorrow. Not to mention the things which rarer beast are capable of doing, whatever they are...

As expected from Ryu's description, the girl spammed the dark claw spell like there was no tomorrow. Even though Cocytus could handle those claws, a large swarm of those claws got his hands full. She also added the dark laser swarm spell inbetween, and inevitably Cocytus was unable to completely avoid taking damage.

Still, Ainz knew the fortitude of Warrior Takemikazuchi's creation. Despite parts of the exoskeleton having been chipped off, Ainz knew that Cocytus' HP was still more than 70%. The girl would eventually tire out soon and he would grasp victory.

However, something strange happened.

Right after the floating fish disappeared, the girl put her weapon behind her back and spread her arms. Her feet left the ground and she floated about ten centimeters from the ground. An energy ball of fire appeared on her left hand, and a dark energy ball appeared on her right hand. Cocytus was still swarmed by the claws so he didn't notice her yet.

"Ryu, what is she going to do?"

"I don't know. I have never seen something like that"

Ryu's answer put Ainz's brain into overdrive. If Ryu didn't know what it was, then it would highly likely be a special trump card only a select few could use, and highly likely to be stronger than Ryu's Photon Blast.

[Message]

"Cocytus! Look out!"


[X][X][X]


Cocytus had just slashed the last dark claw into oblivion when suddenly he received a Message from Ainz, telling him to look out. He immediately looked at Meru and noticed that she was very likely to be preparing a dangerous attack. Cocytus wanted to interrupt her casting, but he knew that it was already too late.

Meru clapped her hands, making the two energy balls collide and made a little energy burst.

Cocytus opened a portal next to him and reached his free hand into it.

Meru's hands were enveloped in energy of combined colors between fire red and dark purple.

Cocytus pulled a huge tower shield almost as big as himself. The shield was gaudy with the ornaments around its edge and turtle shell pattern on its surface. It also had spikes at its bottom.

Meru raised her arms above her head as if she was about to throw what she had to Cocytus.

At the same time, Cocytus raised the tower shield above his head as if he was about to slam it to the ground.

"Fomelgion!"

Meru put her arms straight towards Cocytus, emitting a large laser of red and purple color.

Cocytus slammed the shield straight on the ground in front of him, planting the spikes firmly into the ground. He took cover behind the shield right as the beam hit it.

The shield created some kind of energy vortex on its surface, which then absorbed the laser beam harmlessly. Four seconds later the laser beam stopped and Cocytus was not harmed at all.

The shield was a Relic Class Item with a special ability to nullify frontal elemental damage. However, the tradeoff was that it had to be planted on the ground and held tightly with two hands to function, effectively making the user a sitting duck against flanking attacks. Moreover, once planted it couldn't be uprooted for twenty seconds. Cocytus, having four arms, had an advantage that he could make full use of the shield while still being able to use his remaining two arms, although he still wouldn't be able to move from his position.

Meru fell to one knee and panted heavily. It seemed the laser beam spell took a great toll on her stamina. Cocytus, not going to waste the opportunity, let go of the shield and charged at her. Ainz had told him to knock her out, but it would be difficult to measure the amount of force needed to knock her out without accidentally killing her. Therefore, he tried an alternative. He pointed his katana on Meru's face.

"Do. You. Admit. Your. Loss?"

Meru looked at Cocytus, still with her mourning face.

"I... I can never... forgive you... for... trampling on the lives of others..."

Cocytus didn't budge from his position.

"Therefore... I will never stop fighting! I will protect them! Even if I die, I will go down fighting!"

Meru jumped back and went into battle stance. It was pretty clear from her face that she was afraid and also running out of steam. She knew that she couldn't win, but she still stood her ground.

"I. Am. Impressed. By. Your. Resolve."

Cocytus' gamble was a failure, but he indeed was truly impressed by this little girl's resolve to protect the lizardman people. He went back into battle stance, knowing that the fight would be tricky to end without killing her.

However...

"Stop! Stop the fight! Please!"

A voice of a female screamed from behind Meru. Both Cocytus and Meru looked at the source, and they both saw that it was the white female lizardman. She was frantically running towards Meru, but then she stumbled and fell down into the wet marsh.

"Crusch-san!"

Meru dropped her battle stance and ran to the lizardman. Cocytus had never heard her name before, so for now he would trust Meru's word that her name was Crusch. He dropped his battle stance as well, not intending to interrupt them.

Meru dropped to one knee beside Crusch, trying to pick her up. For some reason Crusch seemed physically weak now.

"We lost! Please stop the fighting!"

Crusch pleaded to Cocytus, seemingly desperate. Tears were flowing from her eyes. Cocytus just stood there silent, waiting on how the event would unfold without his words.

"But I can't let this happen to you, your people. I just can't..."

"My heart is already broken from losing my beloved. If this is the fate of our people then so be it... I don't want you to get caught in it... Please... don't break my heart further..."

Crusch hugged Meru, and both of them cried silently. Cocytus just stood still and silently watched. One minute later, Crusch looked at Cocytus and pleaded.

"Please let her live! She is just a kindhearted wanderer who wanted to help our people! She never had anything to do with us!"

"Unfortunately. Our. Supreme. Lord. Has. Taken. An. Interest. In. Her." "I. Am. Obliged. To. Take. Her. To. Him."

Hearing that, Meru stood up and faced Cocytus. Her face showed a lot of worry.

"If... If I go with you... will you let the people live? Please...?"

She said that while shivering from her worries. It seemed pretty weird for Cocytus because Meru's attitude was very different from Rose who could nonchalantly address Ainz as 'skeleton dude' and talk to him casually. Were they two different persons in the same physical body? Nevertheless, Cocytus gave her a proper answer.

"It. Is. Not. For. Me. To. Decide." "All. Decisions. Are. For. Our. Supreme. Lord. To. Make."

"Let me come too! I will beg for his mercy if need be!"

"Hmm..."


[X][X][X]


Ainz deactivated the Mirror of Remote Viewing. It was pretty clear that the white lizardman had convinced the girl to stop fighting, so at least now one problem was down. But now Ainz still didn't have any idea what to do when she arrived here.

"Ryu"

"Yes?"

"I want you to tell me what you would do if that girl later decides to remain hostile to me"

What Ainz feared was the chance that Ryu might naturally team up with his fellow ARKS member. If that happened things would become very complicated. Nazarick forces would easily dispose of only two, but if someday the news spread to the entire ARKS, there's no telling about what they would do.

The best outcome of that scenario would be that the two operatives were considered as gone rogue and Nazarick would be left alone without further complications. The worst outcome would be the entire ARKS going hostile to Nazarick, and everything would go to a mess no matter what happens next. If Nazarick lost, they would perish. If Nazarick somehow won, there would be nobody to stop Darkers and Dark Falzes out there from freely going on a rampage and eventually reach this planet, and Nazarick would perish.

Is there any way to avoid that kind of situation?

In the middle of Ainz's confusion, Ryu gave his answer.

"That has nothing to do with me"

What?

"Hoo, I have been assuming that ARKS members have close bonds or something"

"Not really. The old thoughts of having close bonds with comrades are never drilled into our mind, so we are still pretty much regular civilian at heart. Well, there are special cases, but if we're talking generally, that's the way it goes"

"Interesting. Also, do you know anything about why a little girl like her could be an ARKS member, and seemingly a strong one?"

Ryu was silent for a few seconds.

"Well, you see, ARKS gets new members with conscription based on one thing only; Photon Aptitude. If someone has Photon Aptitude, they will be conscripted. On the other hand, even if someone highly aspires to be an ARKS, if they have no Photon Aptitude, they won't ever be accepted. Photon Aptitude test is compulsory when someone reaches a certain age, which I forgot but rather young for sure"

Almost sounds like an evil megacorp.

Ainz listened intently. It seemed that ARKS as a whole had quite a strange morality, leaning to be a little rough in Ainz's mind.

"This is just an ongoing rumor, but I heard that those who refuse conscription will be brainwashed, turned into CAST, and conscripted anyway. Oh, instead of CAST, maybe you're more familiar with the term half puppet with limited free will"

Alright, evil megacorp confirmed. But then again, if their adversary is a bunch of planet-eating monsters they might be desperate. In any case...

"Do you want to converse with her?"

"I would like to, but it may be hard if she doesn't see you in good light and if she thinks I'm on your side"

"Are you, Ryu?"

"There are some things I can't agree with you, like this genocidal invasion. But you have your own reason and I won't meddle with that. I still consider you a fairly good person. So yeah, I'm on your side for now"

My karma is full negative yet he still sees me as a good person? Ah, those numbers are just game stats in the end.

"Oh, yeah. You haven't been told yet that the plan has changed. Our objective now is to colonize them and then use them as a test for our ability to govern people without fear and oppresion"

"Still not something I'm a fan of, but at least more acceptable"

"In any case, she will be here shortly. Let me handle it for now and wait in a nearby room. Aura, escort them there"

"Right away, Ainz-sama!"

Ryu, Lily, and Aura then left the throne room of Fake Nazarick. One minute later Aura returned, and three more minutes later Cocytus arrived with the girl and the white lizardman. Ainz had already prepared himself by sitting on the throne looking important, while the rest of the guardians stood at the side of the room.

Both the girl and the lizardman looked afraid while they slowly walked forward with Cocytus behind them. All three of them stopped at a fair distance from the throne.

"What is the lizardman doing here? I believe I have only told you to bring the human girl, Cocytus"

"She. Insisted. To. Come. Along."

"Well then, come forward. State your name and the reason behind your action"

Ainz said that while looking at the white lizardman. The white lizardman stepped forward, and then she kneeled in front of Ainz.

"I am Crusch Lulu, oh Supreme Overlord of Death, Ainz Ooal Gown-sama. I am here to humbly beg you to grant mercy to the human girl who got caught in our situation by misfortune"

"Misfortune you say? She could have just fled the scene, yet she chose to side with your people and fight. I can't just simply let that go, no? Do you have anything to say against that?"

Crusch just went silent.

"Nevertheless, I don't need your presence here for now. Aura, escort her to a vacant room"

"Right away, Ainz-sama!"

Aura immediately escorted Crusch away from the throne room. For a split second Crusch's eyes and the human girl's eyes met, looking very worried to each other. One minute later Aura returned and stood at her previous position.

"Now, step forward and state your name"

The girl, looking afraid, slowly stepped forward. She then stopped and dropped on one knee.

"M-My name... is Meru"

"Stand up. There is no need for you to kneel"

"E-Eh?"

Despite looking confused, she immediately stood up.

"Welcome to Nazarick, Meru of ARKS"

Meru looked very surprised the moment Ainz said the word 'ARKS'. Suddenly, her clothes changed to the previously seen outfit with a flicker of light.

"How did you know about ARKS?"

Her speech suddenly sounded confident. Did the change of clothes also changed her personality?

"Rose." "You. Are. Rose. Aren't. You?"

"Yeah, Meru won't be able to handle this so thank god I managed to take over"

Ainz sensed that Albedo would soon scold her for her attitude, so he raised his left hand, signaling her and everyone else there to stay silent.

"I think first you need to explain yourself, Meru or Rose or whatever"

"I am Rose, and the other me is Meru. As a whole, our name is Mel Rose"

Is this a case of split personality?

Ainz, as Suzuki Satoru, had heard about split personality cases happening around him. The amount of such cases seemed to be on the rise compared to the distant past, and in the majority of cases the person having such thing has had a traumatic past experience.

What kind of things has this young girl been through?

With the condition of the girl in front of him and the recent info from Ryu, Ainz couldn't help thinking that ARKS was much worse than what he had been thinking all this time. Conscripting such a young girl, and probably putting her into traumatic experience to create such a super soldier...

I can understand that they might be desperate, but this is going too far.

"Hey, you're spacing out, aren't you?"

Rose said that with smug face and folded arms. Ainz could sense some teeth grinding nearby, probably from watching such act of disrespect, but he ignored them and spoke.

"So, there are two of you there. Are you able to switch at will?"

"I'm not sure. It seems there is some kind of restriction we still don't know. Both of us can mentally agree to switch, but whether we would actually switch or not is still inconsistent"

"So you're saying that you can mentally converse with your other self? Also, is your other self aware of everything you see and hear?"

"Yes, and yes, and it applies both ways. So, is it enough? How about answering my question?"

Ainz felt somewhat refreshed. This was the first time someone that was not from Nazarick spoke to him, Ainz Ooal Gown, without restraint or formal respect. So far only Lily and Pandora's Actor would talk to him this way, but both of them were from Nazarick. Having a total outsider spoke to him like this was a new experience.

Still, he had to once again signal the guardians on the side to hold their fury and teeth grinding.

"I met an ARKS member recently. He was stranded and confused so I gave him shelter for a while. Cocytus over there, he sparred with him once"

Rose looked at Cocytus behind her, who gave her a slight nod.

"I bet this guy is a Force class like Meru, isn't he? No wonder Meru had a hard time. Anyway, what's going to happen now? Am I your prisoner or something?"

"It depends on your choice"

Ainz stood up from his throne and stepped forward to Rose.

"If you choose to ally with us, I will welcome you as an honored guest. I will provide help for anything within my capabilities and further information about this world, though I might require a fair exchange in return. Also, I will meet you up with the ARKS member I told you about"

Ainz stopped to clear his nonexistent throat.

"However, if you choose to remain hostile to us, I will demand you to get out of our sight to a place we will never find you. Keep in mind that our network is growing wide and I can teleport anywhere in this world"

Well, not that wide yet, but I hope this bluff will make her pick the first choice.

Without saying anything, Rose touched her left ear with her left hand, seemingly checking something.

"That ARKS guy is nearby, isn't he?"

Ainz was surprised. He had no idea how Rose found out the fact that Ryu was also here in this building. Thankfully his skeletal face being expressionless hid his surprise.

"Well, I told you that I would meet you up with him, didn't I? I have prepared for when you pick the first option, but it seems you found that out somehow"

"Before I make my choice, I want to know your motives behind this invasion"

"I wish to make the lizardman tribes prosper under my flag"

"If that is the reason, what was all the killing for? You could have just sent an envoy or something"

"I have my own objectives which I don't want to disclose"

Rose was silent for a short while. Maybe she was mentally discussing with Meru.

"We still can't really trust you, but alright. We are no longer enemies. For now"

"An excellent choice"

"But keep in mind that I might change my mind later depending on what I will find out about you"

"I hope you won't. It would be a waste"

"Hmph!"

"So, would you like to meet your fellow ARKS member now? My subordinate will escort you there"

"I know where he is, so I will walk there myself. Now, if you excuse me"

"Go ahead"

Rose then nonchalantly turned around and walked to the door. When she was passing Cocytus, who looked pretty beaten up from the recent battle, she took something from her pocket and threw it to Cocytus.

"Here, drink that"

Cocytus caught the thing thrown by Rose. It was a bottle which looked like a sports drink container. Without saying anything further, Rose walked away from the room.

Cocytus, while still holding the bottle, looked at Ainz. Ainz realized that Cocytus was seeking approval from him.

"I highly doubt it is poison. Even if it is poison, you are immune to such thing. Go drink it and see what happens"

Cocytus nodded and drank the contents of the bottle. A green light suddenly covered Cocytus, and within a second his body looked as good as new.

"Hoo, interesting. It looks like Ryu's healing spell packed in a bottle"

"Ainz-sama. I am truly impressed"

Ainz looked at Albedo, the one who had just spoke.

"What?"

"Despite all her acts of disrespect, you didn't budge or show any hostility towards her. None of us could even imagine being able to endure such... atrocity. Even watching it happening in front of us was already a great deal of agony!"

Demiurge then added to Albedo's words.

"As expected of Ainz-sama. Your cunning play of action and words have made her suppress her hostility towards us. Especially at the beginning"

What? What of it?

Demiurge continued in the middle of Ainz's internal confusion.

"By immediately telling her to stand up, Ainz-sama made a point to her that unlike the lizardman, Your Excellency consider her as a special guest of better standing, and thus showing your hospitality and lack of ill intent. Also, immediately showing the knowledge of her origin made her curious and therefore she forgot her hostility for a moment, and it was further reinforced by generously giving her a chance to escape. Despite the rather unexpected turn of events afterwards, Ainz-sama, you kept your calm and spoke with unmatched smoothness. I can't help but thinking that you have been prepared for that kind of scenario. I am truly humbled by your supreme mind"

What the hell with that praise? I better don't tell them...

"Ahh, yes. That is correct. Anyway, it's time to go back to our main topic. Step forward, Cocytus"

"Yes. Ainz. Sama"

And thus, in the throne room of Fake Nazarick, Ainz and the guardians discussed about the next step of their plan for colonizing the lizardman tribes.

Ainz would never tell anyone, that the real reason he had told Meru to stand up, was because Meru's skirt was so short her panties were in full view when she was kneeling on one knee like how she had done it.


[X][X][X]


Alright, with this volume 4 has been caught up. Next in line is volume 8 which chronologically happens between volume 4 and volume 5.

This chapter was supposed to be longer, but the conversation between Ryu and Rose ended up exposition-heavy and might be too tiring to read, so I decided to cut the chapter at this point and save it for the Intermission chapter coming next.

A little pre-emptive Q&A. Feel free to ask more questions if you like. I will answer them in next chapter.


Q: Is Meru/Rose stronger than Ryu?

A: Yes, in terms of damage output. But she is still inexperienced so her combat maneuvers are still unpolished. Also, her setup is full offensive so she can't even take a single hit from someone of Nazarick guardian level. Average new world combatants and monsters still won't even scratch her, though.


Q: Hold on, you say she is inexperienced but she possesses twelve star weapons. How come?

A: Twelve star weapons are given out like candy in her origin. More details on that later.


Q: Is Meru/Rose going to be added to Ryu's party?

A: I will answer that in the next chapter. Stay tuned for that.


Q: So ARKS is an evil megacorp. Will you get further on that?

A: More like corrupted, but not all of their staffs are like that. Still can't help it if their chairman is a madman, though. It's a PSO2 lore so I most likely won't dig further into that. This is an Overlord fanfiction after all.