Hello, everyone.

This is it. The last chapter of the saga. The closure of the story. The grand finale. We've come a long way, and it's finally the end of the trip. How do you feel about this? Aren't you glad that this three years long ride is finally over? I myself have mixed feelings. I feel delighted that I managed to bring my biggest work yet to a proper finish, but I also feel like I've lost something. In any case, let's go on with the show in its final homestretch.

This chapter is over 17,000 words, which is about triple the average length of previous chapters. So it might be a good idea to make sure that you have enough time and energy to read it whole.

See you again in the afterword.


Chapter 84: Last Dance


Inside one of the many houses within the city of E-Rantel, a family of four was gathered within the bedroom of the parents, the doors and windows of which were shut tight and locked. They were all sitting at the corner of the room, embracing each other tightly. Fear and worry were painted all over their faces, but the only adult man in the group, the head of the family, tried to steel himself with his utmost effort. He had a wife and two daughters, all of whom he had sworn to protect with all he had. He couldn't afford to show them that his bravery was no better than theirs.

Drrrrd! Bam!

"Aaah!"

The younger daughter, who was still four years old, screamed in fear as a sudden tremor shook the room and toppled the wardrobe, which made a loud banging sound as it hit the floor face down. Nobody was hurt, but the sudden shock of the experience was startling regardless.

"Daddy, I'm scared..."

The older daughter, who was six years old, spoke to the man with her eyes on the verge of tears. The younger daughter also looked at him with the same face but not saying any words. In response, the man could only embrace both of them tighter, and his wife did the same.

"Please don't worry. I'm here, and mommy's here too"

It was not exactly the best speech, but it was all the man could think of to calm his daughters down. He was in fact completely unsure whether his family would see the light of day again.

Everything had been too sudden for the man to process. Earlier this morning he had heard the news of The King conceding the city to an undead named Ainz Ooal Gown. Then, said undead had placed an overwhelming number of undead knights all over the city. And now, Ainz was allegedly fighting against the culprit behind the recent monster attack. This man simply had no idea what was going on anymore. All he knew was the fact that out there, multiple powers beyond what he could possibly dream of were fighting, trying to destroy each other for each their own goal.

"Daddy..."

The younger daughter hugged the man tightly, and he in response caressed her head gently. He wanted to cry in fear, but he couldn't. He was the man of the family, and he believed that he must look strong in front of them even in a grave situation like now. Knowing basically nothing about what was going on out there, he sincerely hoped that everything would be over with soon, whoever won the battle.


[X][X][X]


"Again! Let's play again!"

Vrrrr! Wham!

Dark Falz Double spun its six tower legs, making them orbit horizontally around their main body. The movement happened very quickly that some allies didn't manage to evade in time, thus getting thrown away by the force of the attack.

"Ha! This is interesting!"

One of the hit allies, addressed as 'Zesshi' by Guardian, gracefully landed on her feet with no significant injury showing. In fact, she grinned as if she was happy for receiving the blow.

"This is exciting. I wonder if this creature will be the one to fulfill my wish"

Ainz overheard the words Zesshi said before she jumped back into the battle. Being a magic caster who logically should stay as a backline supporter in major battles, Ainz had been casting various spells from range, either to directly damage Double or to help his allies in some form. Thanks to the role he had chosen to take, along with the constant protection from Albedo, Ainz could observe the situation with a fairly calm mind without much threat and danger coming at him.

Still, what he could observe so far made him flustered.

Good grief! Double is really as tough as an YGGDRASIL World Class Enemy! Did they get weakened by Tsar's nuclear bomb for real? With how childish they are, I won't be surprised if they were just pretending back then!

It was easy to guess that the glowing core at the tip of Double's tongue was the weak point everyone must attack, an assumption which was further confirmed by the fact that the two ARKS Guardians: Melrose and Matoi, were focusing their efforts on attacking that core whenever it popped out of the gate-like mouth of Double's main body. However, each of the six tower legs also had a similar-looking core which occasionally popped out, and Ainz couldn't help wondering about those.

Boom!

"Ugh!"

"Melrose!"

Guardian took a hit from an explosive attack, sending her flying. Matoi shouted in surprise and worry seeing it.

[Greater Telekinesis]

Ainz cast a spell which stabilized Guardian's fall trajectory, enabling her to gently land on her two feet just a few meters near him. Matoi hastily approached, still looking worried but also relieved as she spoke.

"Melrose! I'm glad that you're alright"

"Thanks for the help. I got a little careless there"

[Resta]

As Guardian spoke her gratitude to Ainz, he cast the photon tech he had learned way back, healing Guardian from the damage she sustained. He then spoke to her right after.

"Guardian, or perhaps I should say Guardians of ARKS. How much do you know about this form of Dark Falz Double? An enemy of this level cannot just be fought blindly, therefore information about them, especially their weaknesses, is crucial. You should already have experience fighting them, no?"

Guardian glanced at the ongoing battle between Double and the rest of the allies briefly before replying to Ainz with a rather discontent expression on her face.

"To be honest, nearly none. In our universe, no ARKS has ever fought the true form of the genuine Dark Falz Double. What we have fought were mass-produced clones of them, so our knowledge isn't fully reliable. Add to the fact that everything's messed up on this planet, and the rest is history"

Ainz couldn't help squinting his imaginary face hearing Guardian's reply. If there existed something in her universe with enough power to mass-produce Dark Falz clones, the implication was clear that a threat far greater than a Dark Falz lurked somewhere out there.

"Uhh, I feel compelled to ask who had the bright idea and capability to mass-produce clones of a Dark Falz, but we have little time so I shall put that aside. Nevertheless, what do you know, even if it might not be applicable?"

"If we deal enough damage to a leg core, that leg will break. They get momentarily stunned with their main body core wide open for every two broken legs, but they also get more aggressive and dangerous each time they wake up. Their elemental weakness remains the same throughout; ice and light"

Ainz nodded hearing Guardian's explanation, and then he spoke in response.

"Understood. Go back into the battle now. I shall keep supporting all of you from range"

Guardian and Matoi nodded with determination in response, and they both immediately rejoined the ongoing battle. Ainz then briefly took a glance at the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown which was still engaged in the battle, automatically casting spells as needed to support the allies.

As if the staff had read Ainz's mind, which actually might have been the case, it teleported itself right next to the palm of Ainz's right hand. Ainz then firmly gripped the staff and raised it, preparing to cast a spell which had proven effective against Double.

Double was very nimble even in their giant "spider castle" form, making it a difficult job for anyone to strike a specific weak point. Adding their tendency to detach their legs and spin them around the body like a roulette, one could just forget the idea of hitting the leg cores which were not always out in the open.

However, it was not much of an issue for Ainz with the help from the Staff.

[Triplet Magic – Ilbarta]

[Triplet Magic – Ilbarta]

[Boost Maximize Magic – Ilbarta]

Ding! Crackle! Crackle! Crack!

A loud explosion of ice crystals occurred at the core of one leg. Said core then blew up and the outer shell of the tower structure of that particular leg shattered, revealing the red and black flesh-like substance beneath the colorful shell. Double's movements came to a halt, having been staggered by the damage they received.

The photon tech Ainz had just cast had what a gamer like him would call a "hitscan" trait. In essence, the effect of the spell would instantly happen at the targeted spot upon casting, making such a spell very accurate as long as the caster could aim properly. As Ainz had expected, he could leave it to the Staff when it came to aiming thanks to the computer-like mind it now possessed. Having already known the quirk of the photon tech, Ainz had used metamagic enhancements in a way that he could quickly build up the hit count and finish it off with a devastating strike, and it seemed to have worked wonderfully.

"Hah!"

Crack!

At the same time, thanks to Double halting their movement, Cocytus managed to deliver a direct hit with his Decapitation Fang and God Slaying Emperor Blade at the core of a different leg, making that one have its outer shell shattered.

"Uhh..!"

Bam! Drrd!

With a moan and a loud thumping sound, Double fell down with their main body core revealed at the tip of their tongue, just like Guardian had said.

"Now, attack that core!"

[Maximize Magic – Shatter Armor]

As Ainz shouted the command, the Staff cast a debuffing spell which decreased the target's defense. However...

Crack! Psshhh...

Ainz immediately knew that the spell had failed to take effect because Double had resisted it. It was a shame, but still within expectation. After all, back in YGGDRASIL no simple debuffing spell would work on a World Class Enemy, and Double was pretty much one. Ainz merely figured that it was still worth a shot and the Staff understood, doing the deed in his stead.

Now that it's confirmed, I suppose I have to go without all my Death Magic and debuffing spells which were never useful against World Class Enemies to begin with. I've just got to keep focusing on spells that directly deal damage like what I have been doing.

Nevertheless, all the allies ganged up on the vulnerable core with all they got. The flashy light works and explosions resulting from their attacks made Ainz worry a little bit about the risk of friendly fire, but there was no time to think further about it because Double quickly woke up from their stunned state, retracting their body core back into their castle gate mouth and closing it shut.

"Play harder! Hahahaha!"

Once again, Double repeatedly thumped all their massive legs, creating tremors and shooting out fireworks. Despite having two of their six legs broken, they didn't seem to be crippled or such. The broken legs seemed to be still fully functional.

Bang! Boom!

It turned out that a number of explosive projectiles were mixed in with the harmless fireworks. The ground around Double blew up quite spectacularly, hitting a number of allies caught off guard. Ainz himself was at a safe distance and Albedo was still protecting him as instructed, so he remained unharmed.

[Life Essence]

Ainz cast the spell which allowed him to see the remaining life force of others in the form of an aura around the ones his eyes saw. In modern gaming terms, the spell revealed the HP of others to him. This also included Double, whom Ainz didn't really want to see for too long since the visual of their aura was so enormous it blocked the sun from view. Nevertheless, Ainz needed to check the condition of his allies, especially his Floor Guardians. The whole world was at stake in this battle, and thus he couldn't afford losing any of them.

"Cocytus! Demiurge! Shalltear! You're out!"

Ainz shouted in a commanding tone towards the three Floor Guardians he called out. Their HP had fallen below 30% according to his [Life Essence] readings, so he made the call to retreat them so they could recuperate. All three of the called Floor Guardians heard the command, and so they obeyed and immediately retreated from the battle while the rest of the allies kept Double busy.

"Aww! Why are you going away...? Play with me more!"

"Do not worry, Dark Falz Double! I have more playmates for you!"

The fact that three Floor Guardians had retreated didn't mean the forces of the alliances had dwindled. Right after Ainz made the declaration towards Double, Ainz spoke through the [Message] spell which was still connected all this time.

"Aura. You and the other two are in"

"Alright, Ainz-sama! We're coming!"

After hearing the response from Aura, Ainz cut the [Message] spell off since it was no longer necessary for the time being. Soon, a squad of three joined the fray, coming from behind Ainz. The first one was Aura, riding her giant black wolf Fenn. Following her was Sebas in his true Dragonoid form, and the last one was Aureole Omega, the leader of Pleiades Seven Sisters. Aureole was never meant to be outside Nazarick, but her support skills were invaluable and the world was now at stake with this battle, so Ainz had decided to deploy her as part of a reserve squad.

"Yaaay! New playmates! Come play with me!"

Double once again thumped their legs and shot out fireworks like a child jumping in joy. At the same time, a great number of red vortexes appeared around them, summoning numerous Darker monsters into the fray. All of them were of the same types which had attacked major cities worldwide.

"Ha! It's my time to shine!"

[Beast Summoning]

After exclaiming in excitement, Aura used her skill which allowed her to summon her tamed beasts. Within seconds, tens of magical beasts appeared from thin air, effectively making an army with Aura as the commander. She then pulled out her main weapon, the bow named "To Your Heart—", and immediately used it to shoot one of the Darkers at its core. The lightning-fast projectile made a direct hit and the Darker keeled over before disintegrating, along with several Darkers behind it.

"Let's go!"

Aura shouted, and all her beasts responded by roaring in each their own way. As this happened, all of them seemed to shine a little, which was the sign of Aureole Omega having strengthened them with one of her support skills. Immediately after, the beasts went to attack the Darker swarm, beginning a skirmish between two armies.

As the battle went on, Ainz took a quick glance at Double while [Life Essence] was still in effect. Their aura was still overwhelmingly large, but it had become noticeably smaller than before the beginning of the battle, which meant that the alliance was steadily whittling them down.

However, Ainz couldn't help feeling that something was off. There was no clear evidence backing his suspicion up, so the strange feeling he had was merely a gut feeling. Despite having reassured himself, Ainz still couldn't shake it off. Something would definitely go wrong soon.

Nevertheless, there was nothing Ainz could do regarding his gut feeling, so he mentally prepared to cast another set of Ilbarta barrage the moment a leg core showed itself.


[X][X][X]


[Ilmegid]

While hovering above ground, Ryu conjured claws of dark energy which homed in on the Darkers summoned by Double. Other than during the recent planet-wide attack, he had never fought these so-called Toy Darkers and he also had never fought Dark Falz Double, so when it came to this matter his knowledge and experience was lacking. At the very least, the Darkers still had the common trait of having a core somewhere on their body which served as the weak point.

[Flow Acceleration]

By activating one of the Martial Arts he had unwittingly copied months ago from the kidnapper girl, Ryu's speed and reaction were significantly improved, enabling him to notice and evade an incoming projectile attack with ease. Immediately after, Ryu followed up with a counter attack using a photon tech.

[Grants]

Spears of light impaled the core of a Darker, but it survived. Therefore Ryu cast another of the photon tech, and this time the Darker was slain. While the Martial Arts was still in effect, Ryu glanced at Double to see if they revealed any of their cores. They didn't for the time being and Ryu had no idea where to attack in the absence of weak points, thus Ryu decided to assist his allies in fighting against the summoned Darkers.

Bang! Bang! Boom!

Dark Falz Double threw explosive projectiles all over the battlefield, creating a chain of explosions upon allies and enemies alike. Darkers were essentially expendable for a Dark Falz, so Ryu, who was at a safe distance above ground and therefore unharmed, didn't feel surprised in any way seeing Double committing friendly fire.

Pssshh...

The effects of [Flow Acceleration] expired, causing a mild headache and disorientation as a form of recoil, from which Ryu recovered within a couple seconds. Still, the fact that repeated uses of Martial Arts would eventually introduce a recoil which would grow worse with further uses was something Ryu just learned. Having Martial Arts was surely useful, but he now learned first hand that he still had to make use of them in moderation.

Double was still being kept busy by the allies, especially the ones from Nazarick, so after casting a few more shots of [Ilmegid] to the Darkers below, Ryu retreated to a safe distance intending to assess the situation.

"Ryu-san!"

Ryu heard Lily's voice calling out to him, and he immediately saw her waving her hand at him at a distance, hovering at the same altitude as him. Alice was hovering next to her, still looking unharmed. Nevertheless, Ryu flew to them right away.

"What's the matter? Are you two alright?"

"Yes, we're both fine, Ryu-san! Liz-san felt exhausted so we retreated to rest for a bit"

"Seriously, I feel that I don't belong in this battle. Lily went out of her way to protect me, and now she can't return there because of me"

Alice spoke while looking pretty upset and visibly panting. Whatever she has been doing had cost her a significant portion of her stamina. Ryu was truthfully not in a much better condition than her because he could feel himself panting as well, just not as apparent. Even though he was a pretty high level ARKS operative, he was still human. Fighting continuously with little rest would naturally exhaust him.

"I know, but we don't have much choice to begin with. Having a Techer is always useful in any battle, and you're the only one among us"

Ryu replied without having any idea whether his answer was a good one or not. It was a fact that the ARKS troops from Laguz were too busy fighting Darkers at Abelion Hills as they spoke, thus Guardian and Matoi had to fight Dark Falz Double without reinforcements from ARKS. Ryu and the rest of his team were here by choice because he had decided that he wouldn't leave the two of them alone, even with the presence of Ainz and his powerful subordinates. After all, he had been together with Guardian for long enough to consider her a good friend along with Matoi, even though she was not the same Matoi Ryu knew.

"I feel envious, but also glad that Ainz has a reserve squad"

Alice glanced below, looking at the newcomers called in by Ainz to replace Demiurge, Cocytus, and Shalltear. Ryu looked below as well, seeing their battle feats such as Aura's summoned monsters ravaging through the Darker horde, Sebas in his dragon-like humanoid form sending out devastating shockwaves with his punches, and the last one whom Ryu didn't know floating above the allies while emitting bright aura, seemingly empowering them somehow.

"Yeah, I feel the same. We're here without any reserves to cover for us when we're exhausted like this, but it is what it is"

"Come to think of it..."

Alice then reached into her Travel Pack and took out two vials of bright green liquid after rummaging for a couple seconds. She then gave one to Ryu while giving an explanation.

"Stamina potion. Better not rely too much on it, though"

Ryu briefly stared at the vial before opening it and drinking its content. The taste of the potion was like a sweet soda beverage, which was surprising because Ryu had expected it to taste funny in a bad way. What immediately came after was a sensation of being full of energy, as if the exhaustion just now had been merely a dream.

Alice also drank from her vial, and she took a deep breath after finishing it. She then put both vials back into her Travel Pack and spoke.

"Let me renew our buffs before going there again"

Ryu nodded in response, and Alice cast [Shifta] and [Deband], refreshing the duration of the buffs. The area of effect was even larger than the version Ryu could cast, so he could see a number of allies below receiving the same buffs.

"Alright, time to rejoin the fray"

Ryu responded to Alice's words with a simple nod, and then the three of them flew down towards the horde of Darkers summoned by Double. They all were fully aware that fighting Double directly was way out of their league, and so they would assist in fighting off the Darkers and leave the bigger matter to Guardian Matoi, Melrose, and the forces of Nazarick.


[X][X][X]


Everything's just wrong!

Guardian thought to herself as she kept fighting alongside Matoi against Double's spider castle form. Their attack pattern was unlike anything she remembered way back then, when she had fought the incarnation of Double from her universe. Everything was as if she was fighting against an entirely new enemy. In a sense, that expression was not wrong because the enemy she was facing right now was the genuine Dark Falz Double instead of a clone made by Profound Darkness, but she had not expected them to be significantly different.

Moreover, right now Double was basically in an active phase, but none of the remaining intact leg cores were showing. This was something which was never supposed to happen, and Guardian wanted to tear her hair out seeing this because she now had no idea where to attack.

Boom! Drrrdd!

Double jumped around, shaking the ground each time their massive legs came into contact with the land. Guardian was largely unaffected by the tremors since she was flying above ground thanks to the necklace from Ainz, but there was no point if she couldn't find a way to hurt Double further.

"Hey, Guardian Angel! What are you doing up there?"

In the middle of her confusion, Guardian heard someone calling out to her. The voice sounded familiar, and upon looking it was Zesshi as she expected. The Captain was right beside her, also looking up with a mildly confused expression.

Guardian went down and landed near them after making sure that Double was not looking this way. The freshly coming reinforcements from Nazarick seemed to be keeping Double occupied for the time being, but there was no telling until when. The Captain seemed to notice something, and then he pulled out an item from his pocket. The item looked like an ornate orb radiating an aura of purple color, and Guardian wanted to ask what it was. But without waiting further, the Captain threw the item up.

The item's purple aura glowed brighter as it floated above the group of four, the additional member being Matoi who came just now, and then it conjured a dome of light covering a small area, within which all four of the group were standing. Immediately after, Guardian saw that Double's movement motion slowed down to a near complete stop, and the same applied to everything else around them. It was as if time just slowed down outside the light dome.

"We're now inside a Time Dilation Field. We can talk for about ten minutes, and only a single second will pass outside"

"Woah..."

The Captain gave the short explanation while Matoi looked around in awe. Before Guardian could ask what it was for, the Captain spoke again.

"You looked flustered, Guardian. I figured that the enemy we are facing troubles you, so I decided that you could use some moment to calm down and take a breath"

Guardian briefly froze up hearing the Captain's words before she spoke in response.

"...Are you saying that you used a very powerful and valuable magic item just so I can take a breath? Don't get me wrong, I appreciate it and I'm thankful for that, but what if there will be a better use for the item, now that you've used it?"

The Captain kept his facial expression calm and straight as he gave his answer to Guardian's words.

"The main use of the item is to enable a safe strategy meeting in the heat of battle, which is what we can do now. Also, with all due respect, by your argument I would have never used the item until it is too late. There was one time in the past when I hesitated to use a valuable magic item, and as a result I lost three of my comrades. I don't wish to repeat history"

"Ah, yeah. You got a point there, Captain"

Guardian put one hand behind her head as she spoke, feeling a little embarrassed. But before long, Zesshi spoke with her eyes glaring sharply at Matoi.

"Who's this girl? Your minion, Guardian Angel?"

"H-Huh?"

Matoi was startled by the sudden question she heard, but Guardian quickly gave her answer.

"Zesshi, Captain, meet Matoi. She is an ARKS Guardian just like me. Matoi, meet Zesshi and the Captain of Black Scripture Squad. They are locally known as Guardians of Humanity. I can vouch for their capabilities"

Both sides of the introduced parties showed a slight reaction upon hearing Guardian's words. Matoi was then the first one to break the brief silence.

"It's nice to meet you, Zesshi-san and Captain-san. Though I wish we were in a better circumstances"

"Heh? So you're a Guardian Angel too? Are you strong?"

"A-Angel?"

Matoi was confused by the word added to her title, but the Captain immediately gave Zesshi a light smack on the head.

"Now's not the time for that. So, Guardian. Is there anything you can share to us about the enemy, or anything else you want to talk about?"

Guardian briefly went into a thinking posture before nodding with an expression which showed determination.

"Alright, I'll tell you. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the enemy because their behavior differs too much from my experience with a previous encounter. Right now two of their leg cores are supposed to be showing, but they aren't. They are pretty much impervious to damage anywhere else, so now I don't know where to attack"

"I see, that sounds like they have learned"

"Learned... yeah, I guess so"

Guardian folded her arms while glancing at Double. Of course they would learn a thing or two by themselves this time, because after all they were the genuine Dark Falz Double with sentience and intelligence, unlike the mindless clones produced by Profound Darkness. She wanted to smack herself for having never thought about that possibility, but there was no time for that.

"That means we have to make them reveal their weak points somehow"

The Captain spoke while glancing at Double just like Guardian. It was obvious and Guardian agreed with that, but without any information on how to actually pull that off it would be easier said than done.

"Hey, their so-called leg cores are behind those door thingies, right?"

Zesshi spoke, addressing the bottom part of the unbroken legs. Indeed, each leg had a door-like part at the bottom, from which the core would usually pop out for ARKS operatives to attack. All four of the doors were shut tight, showing no sign of opening anytime soon.

"Yes, they are"

"Then we tear those doors open! Simple!"

Zesshi spun her scythe around as she spoke, clearly showing her excitement. The Captain let out a small sigh seeing her behavior.

"I don't think it would be that simple, but that seems to be the only lead we have. What do you think, Guardians?"

"Worth a try, at least. Let's try focusing our attack to one of the doors and see if we can break it open to reveal the core within. I'm pretty sure Ainz will instantly break the core the moment it shows with his... spell"

Guardian spoke her agreement to the strategy, this time glancing at Ainz who was standing by at a safe distance with Albedo at his side. His version of Ilbarta combo had effectively broken one leg core within an instant, so there was no reason not to do that again the moment an opportunity presented itself.

"Right. As much as I hate to admit it, Ainz Ooal Gown's strength is immense, having broken one leg core all by himself within an instant. The future of this world may depend on him in a large part. The higher ups definitely will find this quite unfavorable"

The Captain spoke followed with a small sigh as he glanced at Ainz. Guardian wanted to question the apparent bias against Ainz, but then she decided against it because there was a more important matter at hand.

"Alright, so we all attack one leg door the moment Captain dispels this time field. Everyone ready?"

Guardian asked the question as she readied her rifle.

"As ready as ever!"

"Let's do this, Melrose"

Zesshi and Matoi affirmed their readiness, and the Captain made a slight nod seeing that before he raised his hand towards the floating magic item. The item's glow dimmed and it dropped into his grasp as the dome dissipated.

"Let's go!"

The Captain spoke as he tucked the magic item into his pocket, and the group of four immediately charged towards Dark Falz Double with a plan and determination in mind.

"Hyaaah!"

Zesshi made the first move by blinking forward to one of Double's legs and slashing down at the door, followed by an uppercut slash before blinking away. The way Zesshi just moved was almost exactly the same as one of Guardian's Photon Arts.

Did she just do both versions of Schwarze Katze?

Guardian wanted to ask whether it was just a coincidence or Zesshi really had the ability to copy her Photon Arts, but she once again decided to save it for later. Right now Double was constantly bombarding their surroundings with explosive projectiles, so everyone had to keep on their toes to avoid taking hits. However, while doing this attack Double stood in place, making them more vulnerable to attacks. This was a good chance to try tearing a door open.

"Let's go, Zesshi!"

"Heh! On it!"

"Godkin's Blessing!"

The Captain and Zesshi began glowing with bright red aura as they shouted together, and they resumed attacking. Guardian who saw them from a distance could easily make a guess that they were activating a Martial Art, a battle technique originating from this planet. At the same time, she also remembered the fact that for some reason ARKS operatives had the passive ability to instantly learn Martial Arts performed nearby.

Back then when fighting the Apostolo Dragon... Don't tell me-!

Guardian's memory of fighting alongside Zesshi and the Captain against Apostolo Dragon resurfaced within. Back then the two of them had activated the same Martial Art, and Guardian herself had been at a close distance during the time. She still had her doubts, but curiosity won her over and therefore she made her attempt.

[Godkin's Blessing]

W-Whoa!

Guardian's body radiated a bright red aura just like Zesshi and the Captain, and she could feel an overwhelming amount of power from within, in a bad way.

"U-ughh!"

The sensation of power Guardian felt was quickly followed up by immense pain. It was as if the entirety of her body was torn inside out. With every breath she tried to take, even more pain followed.

"M-Melrose!"

Matoi shouted, running with a very worried expression to Guardian, who fell on her knees suffering all the pain and fainted soon after, while still radiating the bright red aura.

Whoosh...

Guardian was then wholly engulfed in a dark red vortex, and what came out of it right after was a human figure wearing the blue version of a Dark Falz attire like all the other Dark Falz within Guardian, but this one's head was covered in a full face mask.

"Ah...! It's you!"

Matoi stopped her steps as she saw the one who came out of the vortex. She knew who this person was, as she had encountered this person a few times and learned all the truth regarding this person.

This masked person was none other than Dark Falz Persona, Guardian's future self coming from a timeline where things had gone very wrong. A lot of things have happened, and both Guardian and Matoi have been wondering about Persona's whereabouts.

"We have been looking for you! So you have been inside Melrose all this time?"

Matoi asked Persona, who didn't immediately give any answer. Instead, she just lowered her head and looked at her own hands. The bright red aura was still radiating from her body, and there was no sign of it stopping anytime soon yet.

"It seems my past self has made a mistake, trying to unleash a power not meant for her body to bear..."

"Ah, is Melrose alright? Are you alright?"

Matoi asked the question, clearly showing her worry for both Guardian and Persona. Without moving any part of her body, Persona spoke in response.

"She will be fine, as long as I bear the burden of this power. Nonetheless... the enemy before us seems to be troubling, aren't they?"

As Persona spoke the last part of her words, she raised her head and looked at Double who was still rampaging around on the battlefield against the forces of the alliance. The allies were faring decently holding Double off, but they were still unable to deal any significant damage either. At this rate the allies would eventually exhaust themselves and that would spell defeat.

"Yes... but please don't push yourself! You've done so much for us all! I can't just-!"

"Standing here not doing anything would mean giving in to despair. I have had my share of falling into despair, and I no longer wish for myself to remain that way. Therefore..."

Whoosh...!

The bright red aura around Persona's body grew larger and more furious like a raging fire. Matoi now couldn't even see Persona within the aura, but it only lasted for a couple seconds before most of the aura dissipated, revealing what had happened to Persona.

The first thing Matoi immediately witnessed was the fact that Persona had become a towering armored humanoid figure. She was at least five meters tall and fully covered in jet-black armor with gold accents from head to toe, but her figure still looked fairly slender in the armor suit. A similarly colored cape was fluttering behind her back, having been blown by the winds resulting from her own overwhelming aura of power. She wielded a sword which was black with blue accents at the blade. The size of that sword was too large for any human to feasibly wield, but compared to her own body size that sword was like the standard size of a longsword.

"I'm guessing my past self would call this Dark Blast Persona if she were here"

Persona spoke while glancing over her own transformed body. This was a transformation that had never been done before, mainly because unlike the other four Dark Falz within Guardian, Persona's whereabouts within had been isolated somewhere else not even Guardian herself knew.

"Yeah! She definitely would!"

Matoi nodded with a smile as she spoke.

"Let's go, Matoi"

"Yes! Let's go!"

Persona raised her sword and immediately dashed towards one of Double's unbroken legs with Matoi following right behind her. On her way, she raised her free hand forward. That hand immediately shot out a barrage of energy projectiles which homed in to one of the leg doors, the same one which Zesshi and the Captain had been attacking. All the projectiles hit the same spot, producing a great number of sparks and explosions. Not wasting any time, Persona followed up with a straight stabbing attack using her sword.

"Hah!"

Accompanying the attack, Matoi cast Ilgrants, shooting a barrage of light trails which homed in on the same leg door. Simultaneously as the Ilgrants projectiles hit, Zesshi and the Captain struck the leg door with their weapons.

Crack!

The focused attacks seemed to be working. The leg door began cracking, and seeing that gave everyone there hope. Being aware that her sword managed to pierce through the door although not too deep, Persona tried twisting her sword to see if she could force it open. However...

"Let's have more fun time!"

Whoosh! Wham! Smack!

Double suddenly spun all their legs around their body, hitting Zesshi, the Captain, and all other allies who were too close. Persona who held her sword tightly was carried along with the spinning leg.

"Hhrgh!"

Drrd!

Persona put all her weight into her legs as they rubbed the ground, trying to stop Double's legs from spinning. Sadly the ground was not solid and hard enough, only resulting in soil pieces thrown all over the place while she was still being spun around like Double's plaything.

"Ha!"

Crack!

A pretty loud cracking sound was heard, and Persona was thrown away from Double. She managed to land on her two feet, right next to Ainz and Albedo. Both of them were visibly startled, but none of them went into hostility because they knew she was their ally, although they probably still didn't know the details yet.

"You are Guar- Melrose, right? I assume this is another of your transformation power"

Ainz asked the question, and Persona answered without taking her eyes off from Double.

"I am, but I'm also not. However, we should put that aside. Look over there"

Persona pointed her sword at Double, and Ainz looked the same way. One of the legs had its door cracked wide open, and the core of that leg was fully exposed.

"Take care of that core while I try to break another leg door open"

"Very well. Godspeed, Melrose"

Ainz gave his answer, and Persona immediately dashed away straight towards one of the remaining unbroken legs which the Captain and Zesshi were now attacking. Double, possibly aware of the threat from Persona, bombarded her with explosive projectiles and also stomped one of their broken legs on her. However, Persona evaded all the attacks by blinking left and right as she dashed. Her fiery red aura went fiercer as she switched into wielding her sword with two hands.

Schwing! Schwing! Bam!

Right as Persona reached the leg door she was targeting, she immediately did two diagonal slashes followed by a vertical downward strike. She then planted her sword on the ground and raised her arms forward, pointing her palms at the door.

"Haaaaah!"

A barrage of energy bolts was shot out from Persona's hands straight onto the leg door, followed by a larger one after a second of charging. All the bolts hit the door square, and the last one made the door implode on itself. The door cracked, but it still stood strong shielding the core within.

"Tch! Still not enough!"

Persona clicked her tongue seeing that her attack made a dent but didn't break the door open.

Smash! Wham!

Suddenly Zesshi came in and struck the door with her scythe, followed by the Captain doing the same with his spear right after.

"Don't forget that we're here with you, Guardian"

The Captain spoke as he charged his energy into the tip of his spear, making it glow with golden color.

"I'll break as many doors as you ask me to! As long as you promise to fight me again, in that form!"

Zesshi spoke with a grin as she did a similar thing as the Captain with her scythe. Persona didn't feel like answering to that because it was not exactly her problem.

"I'm here too, Melrose. Rely on me more, alright?"

Matoi spoke from right beside Persona, casting a barrage of Ilgrants projectiles at the door.

"Haaaah!"

Boom!

Both Zesshi and the Captain shouted as Matoi's Ilgrants barrage hit the door, and an explosion occurred right at where their weapons had struck. Both of them jumped back as it happened, and what was immediately visible to the group of four was the core of that leg being fully exposed. They had managed to break open another core.

Ding! Crackle! Crackle!

Within a single second, a series of icy explosions occurred right at the recently exposed core, finishing up with a huge one. The final explosion destroyed the core, and the whole tower leg had its outer shell shattered. This most definitely had been the work of Ainz Ooal Gown.

"Uhhh...!"

Bam! Drrd!

Once again, Dark Falz Double fell down motionless with their main body core exposed at the tip of the tongue. All allies in range, Zesshi and the Captain included, immediately jumped at the core to strike it. Persona was about to follow them right behind, however...

Psshh...

"Hmm?"

Persona's aura began to shrink and fade away. It was a clear sign to her about what was happening, so she turned her head towards Matoi and spoke.

"It seems my time is up"

"Oh... what's going to happen to you?"

Matoi's face looked worried and a little sad as she spoke, but Persona replied with a reassuring tone.

"The Melrose you know will be back, and I'll return to the dark corner within her, like I have always been"

"Like always been... Why? You're the same person and you have saved both our lives, but why is your fate so different? It's not fair...!"

Matoi spoke to Persona while on the verge of crying. Persona stood still, not moving any part of her massive body.

"Come on, don't bring that up again. I don't deserve your sympathy. I ran my sword through you, fully intending to kill you, merely to run away from my despair"

"But-!"

"Remember our promise, Matoi"

Hearing Persona's words, Matoi lowered her head before speaking in response.

"No tears, only smiles... See, you're unfair too! Hahaha..."

Matoi spoke with a smile and laugh which poorly masked the sadness behind her facial expression. Meanwhile, Persona's red aura was almost completely gone. Knowing this, she spoke to Matoi one last time.

"Live on, Matoi. Live with the me you know more, and weave a path to a bright future. I leave the rest to you..."

Right after finishing her speech, Persona's body was engulfed in a red vortex which soon dispersed, leaving the original Guardian Melrose in its wake.

Thud.

She was standing at first, but she still hasn't regained her consciousness, so she naturally was pulled down by gravity and hit the ground.

"Ah! Melrose!"

Matoi immediately dashed to Guardian upon seeing this and got ahold of her while kneeling. There was no immediate sign of her waking up, but she was still breathing.

"Xiera!"

Matoi shouted to her communication device, which quickly gave a response.

"Her vital signs don't show anything grave, but the photon readings clearly show that you're exhausted. Yes, I mean both of you! Pull back for now!"

"Huh? But the fight isn't over yet!"

"It is alright"

Before Matoi could hear any answer from Xiera, suddenly a familiar deep masculine voice whispered into her head and before she knew it she, along with Guardian, was already right next to Ainz Ooal Gown.

"You have done well, Guardians of ARKS. Take your well-deserved rest and leave the remainder of the battle to us; the Guardians of this world"

Matoi didn't immediately give a response to Ainz's words, but she soon nodded while still kneeling and holding Guardian on her lap.

"Alright, but we'll be back. I don't want to leave everyone all by themselves! I'm a Guardian, and I have to- No, I will protect everyone! And I believe Melrose feels the same too"

"I admire your resolve, but I believe you should go now"

With a quick nod and no more words, Matoi placed a teleportation beacon right under her feet and disappeared within a second along with Guardian and the beacon itself. They were now out of the battle which soon would reach its highest climax.


[X][X][X]


Ainz watched with vigilance as a number of the allied forces were ganging up on the stunned Dark Falz Double's exposed main body core. The information from Guardian Melrose had been correct so far, and that would mean Double would become even more aggressive soon after they got back up on their feet.

"Ainz-sama. I beg your pardon for my foolishness, but would you allow me to ask a question?"

Albedo suddenly spoke to Ainz, which was a little bit surprising. Nevertheless, Ainz answered.

"Very well, but keep yourself vigilant while doing that"

"Certainly, Ainz-sama. I merely wonder why Ainz-sama never attacked the core of the main body so far. I'm certain the magic spell Ainz-sama has been casting to destroy the leg cores would be devastating there as well"

Ainz didn't immediately give an answer. Albedo actually had a point. The Ilbarta combo would surely deal a devastating amount of damage to the main body core of Dark Falz Double. However, as an outside observer there was something Albedo couldn't see which Ainz could as the caster himself.

"Albedo, what do you know about my mana capacity?"

"E-Eh? I believe Ainz-sama's mana capacity breaks the boundaries of a Supreme Being's, which means nobody in Nazarick could ever hope to compare"

"Yes, you are correct. Nobody in Nazarick has as much mana capacity as mine. Moreover, after absorbing Dark Falz Elder my mana capacity and regeneration has increased significantly. Now, do you know how much mana I have spent each time I destroyed a core?"

"No, Ainz-sama. I unfortunately don't know"

Albedo spoke while still keeping herself vigilant. Her face was concealed by the helmet of her full plate armor, but from her tone of speech it could be inferred that she was aware where the conversation was going.

"About one fifth of my new capacity. Not even my new and improved mana regeneration would recover that amount within a comfortable time. Therefore, while there are still intact legs remaining, that spell combination should only be used for destroying leg cores"

Indeed. By default, photon techs consumed much less mana than Tier Magic spells of similar destructive power, which in Ainz's case was ninth tier or tenth depending on which tech was cast. However, the story was completely different when metamagic enhancements were put in the picture.

The Ilbarta combo is expensive, but it has been effective so far. In this kind of situation where the whole world is at stake for real, I don't want to try lowering the metamagic enhancement or using a different spell. Not worth the risk.

"I see, Ainz-sama. My deepest apologies for missing the crucial aspect of a magic caster"

"No need to be sorry. Be constantly vigilant, because the fate of the world depends on us all"

"Yes, Ainz-sama!"

Right after Albedo spoke her response, Ainz saw Double waking up and pulling their main body core back into their mouth.

"Hahahaha! Time to get serious!"

Right after speaking out loud, Double began floating away from the ground and then they blasted off like a rocket. Within a single second they returned, swooping down on everyone on the battlefield and flying across at incredible ramming speed, leaving barely any space between their whole body and the ground.

Wham! Smash! Whack!

Sounds of Double's gargantuan body and legs smashing everything on their way echoed throughout the battlefield. Ainz had no idea what, or who, had been rammed by Double, but he knew for certain that standing around was not the wisest idea because Double turned around at the distance, clearly intending to repeat the ramming attack.

"We need to get to cover!"

"Right, Ainz-sama!"

[Mass Teleportation]

Ainz cast a spell which teleported both himself and Albedo into one of the craters which had been made by Double's previous explosive attacks. The crater was deep enough to be used as a trench for him to stand upright without any part of his body getting exposed to the ramming attacks above ground level. In fact, there were some other allies in the same crater, having had the same thought as him.

"Ainz-sama. I'm very glad to see that you're alright"

Sebas was one of the allies there, still in his Dragonoid form. It was very noticeable that he was no longer in his prime, especially the left arm which bent the wrong way. Behind Sebas, Ainz could also notice Mare and Aureole being far from good conditions as well. Ainz glanced at them, and Sebas seemed to notice, thus he bowed as he spoke.

"I was careless. I beg your forgiveness for my foolishness"

"Did you get hit by that ramming attack? Were the others got hit too?"

Sebas didn't immediately answer. He fell silent, and Ainz immediately knew that there was bad news coming.

"It pains me to say this, Ainz-sama. Many of us were caught off-guard by the sudden ramming attack. Besides myself, Aureole and Mare were badly injured, despite Miss Omega's buffs. Aura... she and all of her magic beasts didn't make it..."

Ainz froze up upon hearing the last part of Sebas' words. The fact was now clear that Nazarick had just suffered a casualty. Within a second, Ainz felt a strange, fiery sensation wash over and into his body. Perhaps it was denial, anger towards Double, or grief and guilt for bringing Aura into such a dangerous battle. Perhaps the sensation resulted from all those emotions at once, and his emotional inhibitor was barely able to cope.

Regardless of reasons, now more than ever, Ainz was determined to stop Dark Falz Double at all costs. If he fell here, so would Nazarick, and then the world. Everything he and his friends built would come to nothing.

NO! That could not be allowed! I shall never allow it!

Whoosh!

Double flew past the crater right above, making a powerful gust of wind which was enough to make Sebas and Albedo sway for a brief moment. Ainz himself was essentially unaffected by the wind, standing upright and unfazed with the Staff in the grasp of his right hand. He lowered his head slightly, and then both his crimson eyes flared up as he looked up and raised the Staff high.

[Gate]

A dark portal appeared at a good distance above the crater, and its size was far greater than what Ainz usually cast. Soon enough, something massive came out from it. It was none other than Gargantua, a unique existence within Nazarick taking the form of a, befitting its name, gargantuan rock golem. Its size was equal with, if not greater than Double, and nobody in Nazarick had ever doubted its strength.

Wham! Drrddd!

Everyone could feel the tremors as Gargantua stepped its massive feet onto the battlefield. With each step it took, the land trembled once more. Getting stepped on by Gargantua would surely be a critical blow against any Player, except for the Tankiest ones, and Ainz silently hoped that none of his other allies fell to the potential friendly fire.

"Huhuhu! Hahahaha!"

Double's childish, excited laugh echoed loud and clear for everyone to hear. It was very visibly apparent that they were going to ram Gargantua with their massive body, thus Ainz and the Staff quickly cast all the buffing spells they could cast on Gargantua within the short time frame before the two giants collided.

Gargantua raised its right arm with the corresponding hand tightly clenched into fist, and it launched a straight punch right at the incoming ramming attack by Dark Falz Double.

BOOM!

Double's body crashed into Gargantua's punch head on. The shockwave resulting from the impact was so massive that it blew everything and everyone away, Ainz himself included.

W-Whoa!

[Fly]

[Wind Barrier]

Ainz quickly cast the flight spell to stabilize himself along with a spell which shielded him from the wind gust. He then quickly looked around to see how his Floor Guardians and other allies were faring against this explosive impact.

Sebas and Aureole seemed to be fairly alright, having landed on their feet. Mare used [Fly] to stabilize himself like Ainz did.

Huh-!

What Ainz immediately noticed upon glancing at Mare was his straight expression with tears leaking down the eyes, while displaying a quiet yet murderous fury not befitting his normal image of a shy and timid little child. Ainz didn't take long to realize that Mare was filled to the brim with rage over his sister's fall. But who wouldn't be? Even Ainz himself felt his own rage welling up from within. However...

"Mare!"

Ainz called out to Mare while approaching him. Mare was startled briefly, but it was enough to make him let go of the tranquil fury.

"A-Ainz-sama!"

The battle was still ongoing, meaning there was little time for talk. Therefore Ainz immediately spoke right to the point.

"You are badly injured. Fall back and get yourself treated"

"B-But Ainz-sama-!"

"Are you defying my order?"

Ainz's crimson eye flares brightened up as he spoke, and it startled Mare even more.

"N-No way, Ainz-sama! I-I would never even dream of it! But Aura-neesan...!"

"I know that very well. I bear the same burden of anger, and Dark Falz Double shall regret inciting my wrath. No, the wrath of Ainz Ooal Gown as a whole"

As he spoke, Ainz looked at the spot where Double and Gargantua had collided. The two colossus were now grappling against each other in what seemed to be a stalemate at a glance. From this distance, Ainz could notice visual effects of various attacks on Double, which strongly implied that somehow the other allies had survived without crippling injuries unlike many of the Nazarick forces. Nevertheless, Ainz spoke to Mare again.

"Fall back, Mare. I want you to be there for Aura when I resurrect her later, and for that I need you to stay alive"

Mare's eyes went wide as he heard Ainz's words, having seemingly realized something. He then bowed as he spoke.

"R-Right, Ainz-sama! I'll take my leave!"

"Hmm. Take Sebas and Aureole with you as well"

"Alright, Ainz-sama. Please be safe"

Mare then quickly went to Sebas and Aureole and took them away from the battlefield using his Mass Teleportation spell. Meanwhile Albedo quickly approached Ainz and waited on standby for any immediate orders.

"We should go and finish this battle. Shall we, Albedo?"

"Yes, Ainz-sama! I will protect you with all I have!"

Ainz made a brief nodding gesture, and then he flew straight towards the grappling Gargantua and Double to close the distance.

Whoosh! Wham!

Before Ainz could get within range of his offensive spells, a huge white flash of light came down from the sky. It violently crashed into Double, who was taken by surprise and staggered as a result. Gargantua seemed to notice the opening, and it immediately grabbed onto one of the two remaining intact legs with both of its hands.

What was that light?

As soon as that question popped into Ainz's mind, he got his answer as the brilliant white light faded, revealing the figure of a majestic platinum-white dragon. It didn't take Ainz long to figure out that it was Tsar's original body, the Platinum Dragon Lord himself.

That probably was some kind of a high level body strengthening magic. In any case, now that Gargantua has the advantage...

[Maximize Magic: Herculean Strength]

Ainz cast a buff spell at Gargantua, making its arms glow with a red hue. Its eyes flared up for a brief moment, and then its hands clenched tight, crushing the leg of Double which it had been grasping.

Krrk-! CRACK!

"Aaaah! It hurts!"

Double wailed as one of their remaining intact legs was shattered under Gargantua's strength. Gargantua had achieved a previously thought to be impossible feat; breaking Dark Falz Double's leg outright without exposing the core. Ainz stopped to land and take a quick glance at the only intact leg remaining. The core was still hidden within as expected.

"Ainz Ooal Gown! If you have such a powerful weapon, why didn't you use that from the start!?"

Ainz was a little surprised hearing the angry voice calling him out. It came from Tsar in the Platinum Dragon Lord body, who landed nearby in a haste. Albedo who was at Ainz's side immediately reacted by brandishing her 3F at Tsar and angrily shouting back.

"How dare you saying those insolent words at Ainz-sama! Even a thousand deaths will never be enough to apologize!"

"This is not the time to be at each other's throats, Albedo. I shall take it from here"

Ainz gently tapped Albedo at her shoulders as he took a few steps forward towards Tsar, who still stood upright in his massive dragon body.

"Tsar, I am fully aware of my own hypocrisy after making you use that trump card of yours back then. However, I have been acting on the assumption that Dark Falz Double is fully capable of learning and adapting to our moves. I am highly confident in the strength of the tricks I have up my sleeve, but I also have to consider the possibility of them only working once each. In short, what I have been doing is combat resource management"

"Tch! How very cunning... This is why I have difficulty bringing myself to like your kind"

"Umu... Understood. At the moment, being liked is really the least of my concerns anyway"

"Let go of me!"

Before the conversation between Tsar and Ainz could finish, they both heard Double shouting. Ainz immediately looked at them and saw the fact that Double had detached the grabbed leg from the main body, and then they literally vomited projectiles out of their mouth, the shape of which was like the toy car Darkers they could summon but the color was almost completely red.

Splat! Splat! Splat!

The toy car projectiles were showered on Gargantua's face, dissolving into red liquid substance upon contact. Within just a couple seconds, nearly the entirety of Gargantua's upper half was smeared with the aforementioned liquid substance.

For some reason, Gargantua let go of Double's leg, which immediately flew towards the main body and reattached itself.

"Naughty! Naughty!"

Whack! Smack! Blam!

Double repeatedly flailed at Gargantua using all six of their legs as hammers. For some reason, Gargantua just stood there taking all the attacks and being unresponsive. Ainz tried his hardest to send mental commands, but there were no reactions at all.

Don't tell me that the red liquid substance has shut Gargantua down somehow!

Gargantua's body began crumbling after taking so much punishment without any defensive actions. Ainz's mind went into panic inside, unable to quickly decide whether he should spend mana to attempt to save Gargantua which may not be able to contribute into the battle anymore, or conserve mana and let Gargantua perish in Double's hands.

WHAM! Drrrddd!

But before Ainz could come into a decision, Double made it for him. They flew away like a rocket once more, turned around, and rammed Gargantua at full speed. Its stone body shattered into pebbles and boulders, scattered all around, and dissolved into particles of light. Seeing this, Ainz could only sigh in his mind for losing another Floor Guardian to Double. It was a little strange seeing that his emotion was not as riled up as the time he had lost Aura just recently, but it was perhaps due to Gargantua still being merely a mechanical golem, unlike Aura who had been... alive.

Nevertheless, Ainz saw that Double didn't continue ramming around like before. They landed near the spot where Gargantua had been, and then they just stood there looking exhausted but not exposing any of their cores. Ainz immediately flew to approach the allies who were gathered not too far from his current position. All of them were still present, with the exception of Tsar's humanoid armor body.

"Ah! Papa!"

Lily's voice was immediately heard upon Ainz arriving. Ainz took a quick glance at everyone to check their conditions. They were indeed strangely alright unlike the Floor Guardians whom Ainz had needed to evacuate. Although, it was also apparent that they all looked exhausted and wouldn't last much longer.

"I am glad that all of you seem to be alright"

Ainz spoke his remark with a straight tone while still keeping his eyes open at Double. They still stood there not doing anything.

"Tsar shielded all of us, though his armor perished as the result"

Ryu spoke, giving Ainz the answer to the question he had. The allies here didn't suffer crippling injuries because Tsar had been there to shield them using some method Ainz didn't know, likely another of the native New World magic spells, although with the cost of the armor body.

"Our side has taken significant losses, but Double seems to be on the brink of exhaustion as well. We should finish them off right now... is what I would like to say, but I suspect that this might be a trap"

Ainz spoke while remaining vigilant on Double's movement, or rather the lack of it. He still had a few tricks up his sleeve, but would those be enough?


A.N.: This is about the halfway point of this chapter. If you need a short break, now might be a good time for it.

Either you decide to take a break or continue and persevere, proceed to the end of the story from here.


Everything's wrong.

From within Mel Rose's mindscape, Rose who was currently not in control of the body could freely observe the flow of the battle while Meru did all the fighting using the body. Both Rose and Meru have had experience of fighting Double clones, so she was decently knowledgeable about them and could recognize some attack moves. However, too many aspects of Dark Falz Double in this battle contrasted her knowledge about them.

The current situation didn't look very good. The alliance forces had managed to break five of the six legs Double had, but with substantial casualties. Even the surviving ones, including her own body, had already expended their resources to the point they probably wouldn't last much longer. Something had to be done to end the battle soon, or else Double would be the one to end it with their victory.

Moreover, now Double just stood around at the distance not doing anything other than looking exhausted. Such a thing has never happened in any of the previous battles. Were they truly exhausted like the forces of the alliance, or could this be another of their 'games'?

"Meru, call Xiera and see if she has anything to say"

"Oh, alright"

Meru then immediately activated her photon interface to call Xiera. The screen display showing Xiera's face was large enough for everyone nearby to see and talk to if they wanted.

"Ah! I was just about to call you! Bad news! This is really bad!"

Xiera's panicked voice could be heard by everyone there loud and clear, and it put them into a fully tense state. Without delay, Xiera immediately resumed speaking while still sounding panicked.

"Darkers have just spawned in cities all over the planet again! Our operatives haven't had any chance to recover and now this happens I don't know what to do!"

"What!?"

The single word exclamation was spoken by several people at once, and then everyone turned their heads towards Double, who began laughing.

"So they are losing the battle, and therefore they are trying to separate me from my allies..."

Ainz spoke while maintaining his calm tone of speech. Upon hearing his words, Rose immediately agreed with his point. The alliance forces were made of people with multiple origins. After knowing that the worldwide attack happened again, the ones from local nations would naturally be compelled to return to their homes to protect them, while the ARKS operatives would be forced to make a choice between remaining with Ainz to assist him in this battle, or leave him to protect the natives of the world from the Darkers. ARKS being basically goody two shoes would heavily lean on the choice of protecting the majorly helpless natives rather than assisting Ainz who was very capable of combat to begin with. Left on his own, Ainz who was Double's main target from the start would become more vulnerable for them to beat and ultimately devour.

Ahhh~~! Double really made us their plaything all along...

Within the mindscape, Rose let out a heavy sigh and let her back hit the imaginary ground. No matter which choice would be made, this planet would soon suffer an overwhelming amount of casualties world wide. There was no more denying it. By failing to protect the people, ARKS essentially had lost to Dark Falz Double.

"Don't give up, Xiera"

Suddenly a somewhat masculine voice could be heard from the interface. Rose didn't recognize the voice at first, but as she looked to the interface she immediately noticed that Xiera was surprised, looking left and right frantically.

"Xi-Xiao?! Is that you, Xiao?!"

Xiera asked in a clearly agitated tone of speech. Upon hearing the mentioned name, Rose remembered about Xiao, the reigning Head Administrator of ARKS and the owner of ARKS Mothership. To be exact, Xiao himself was the mothership. A living, sentient planet covered in artificial parts which enabled him to travel.

"Not the Xiao you know, but yes. I'm... We're here to help you out so don't give up, alright?"

Xiao's voice felt a little awkward, but one could feel the determination within. Hearing his words filled everyone who heard him with a new hope.

"Look! Up there!"

Lily shouted, pointing her hand up. Everyone else looked to the sky and immediately noticed a shining golden crack visible in the middle of the cloudless blue sky. The crack was small, not any larger than the sun when seen from here, but then it quickly grew bigger and something came out from it.

Brilliantly shining with golden light, the thing which came out from the crack was none other than Mothership Xiao, the Head Administrator of ARKS, the planet-sized mothership around which all ARKS ships gathered. At its current distance from the planet, the mothership was visually double the size of the sun. Nobody would actually be able to tell the actual distance and size with just their naked eyes.

"Xiao! You came all the way to this dimension personally?"

Xiera asked the question frantically, which was immediately answered.

"Well, not only me. I brought the entire fleet with me. Sorry for being late, though. Calculating a way to cross the rift safely for us all was not an easy feat"

Right after Xiao spoke his answer, numerous smaller ships emerged from behind the mothership. They visually looked like a crowd of ants coming out, but those from ARKS would know that each 'ant' was an ARKS ship of the same type and size as Laguz. Before long, Xiao spoke again, addressing not Xiera but the ones in battle against Double.

"Ryu, Hikaru, Ainz Ooal Gown, and all others over there who are fighting against Dark Falz Double. You can leave protecting the people of the planet to us. Please do what is right, and defeat Dark Falz Double once and for all. We're counting on you, all of you"

Right after Xiao finished his speech, an uncountable amount of blue light trails began raining down from all the ARKS ships to every place as far as the eyes could see. The spectacle was akin to a meteor shower, each of the light shining brightly that they were still vividly visible even in the daylight. Pretty much everyone was already familiar with the lights, knowing that each of them was an ARKS operative coming down to the planet. The world was in danger, but help has arrived. There was still hope.

"Hmph. Hahahaha... Hahahahaha!"

Ainz suddenly laughed out loud in a way which would commonly be interpreted as an evil laugh. That wouldn't be far off from the mark since Ainz had the apparent image of an evil undead overlord. Without further delay, Ainz then spoke once more with his head turned at Ryu and Hikaru.

"So the entire fleet of ARKS has finally arrived. At long last. It sure feels great, no? In any case, our business here is still unfinished, and I shall end it right here and now"

Ainz turned his head towards Double during the latter half of his speech, and then he immediately raised his hand.

[Gate]

A familiar dark portal materialized above Double, but unlike the huge portal before, this one was basically regular size. Whatever was going to come through it would probably be human-sized.

Whoosh! BOOM!

But what instead came out from it was a brilliant orange-colored energy ball which hit Double's remaining intact leg at incredible speed and exploded with a blinding light coupled with a heat level which could melt rocks at the impact point. Everyone immediately braced themselves and covered their eyes in reflex. It was as if a miniature sun had been shot out from the portal to hit Double directly.

Soon after, everyone seemed to have recovered their vision. What Rose immediately saw in Double's vicinity was one newcomer she had never seen before. It was a humanoid knight fully clad in shining pure-white armor and sporting a fluttering red cape behind their back. Their armament was a sword on the right hand and a shield on the other.

"Who's that?"

Ryu asked the question which probably everyone else not from Nazarick also had in their mind. A few of them immediately glanced at Ainz expecting some kind of answer, which they soon got.

"I shall say that this is another of the few remaining tricks I have up my sleeve. Pardon me for not wishing to say anything further. He shall not be here for long, so let us all assist him in breaking Double's last leg quickly"

It didn't take long for everyone else in the alliance to immediately dash at Double, who in response began retaliating by throwing various attacks in all directions. By now everybody was sufficiently familiar with Double's moves, so evading was not much of a problem.

"Godkin's Blessing!"

Both Zesshi and the Captain used their Martial Art which empowered them greatly. At this close distance from them, Rose was pretty confident that she had automatically copied the Martial Art. But seeing what had happened to Guardian...

"Under any circumstances, don't ever think about using that Martial Art"

"Ah... yes, Rose. I understand"

Rose warned Meru just in case, since after all she had no Dark Falz within to back her up unlike Guardian.

"Pace of The Wind! Flow Acceleration!"

Ryu activated his own Martial Arts, both of which immensely increased his speed, enabling him to zoom towards Double's remaining leg and raining barrages of photon techs on it.

Wham!

Tsar in his dragon body crashed into the top of Double's leg and latched on it. At the same time he began glowing, and somehow the movement of that leg seemed to slow down. Rose wondered if Tsar had magically increased his body weight, similar to one of the spells Alice could do.

"Hyaaah!"

"Hah!"

Slash!

Zesshi and the Captain slashed the spiky tendril connecting Double's leg with their main body, severing it whole and disconnecting the leg from the body as the result. Double could freely attach and detach their legs, so Rose figured they would recover the leg soon anyway.

Drrdd!

However, the short moment of the leg touching the ground, which was still pretty hot and molten thanks to the recent miniature sun attack, was enough. The weight of the massive leg, compounded with Tsar still weighing it down, made the leg sink partially.

"Rabarta!"

Meru flew to the base of the leg and cast a photon tech which created a chilling blizzard around herself. The damage to the leg was essentially negligible because the core was still hidden within the shut tight door. However, the chill hardened the molten ground and made the leg stuck there for at least a couple seconds.

The few seconds was all that was needed for the white knight to strike. He raised his sword, which immediately began glowing brilliantly. The light was quite a blinding one, but the experience with the miniature sun had made everyone's eyes acclimated enough.

"World Break"

The knight slashed down once at a distance from which his sword would logically never reach the enemy.

Crack! Crack!

But suddenly a cracking sound was heard from Double's leg. A diagonal slash mark appeared at the door which had been hiding the core, and more cracks appeared all around it.

Crash!

And then the door shattered, revealing the glowing core behind it. Without delay as expected, icy explosions from Ainz's version of Ilbarta barrage occurred right then and there, finishing up with a significantly larger one which destroyed the core and shattered the outer shell of the entire leg.

"Uhhh...!"

Bam! Drrd!

For the final time, Double fell down motionless with the main body's core exposed. It was now once again a good time to gang up on the core. However...

Fwooom...

Double's entire being began radiating a very sinister-looking black aura. The way the aura radiated made it looked like a pair of gigantic wings even larger than Double themselves. This was something which had never happened before. There was no telling what was going to happen next. Rose questioned within her mind whether this was possibly because of the monster Double had devoured.

"All of you, fall back"

Ainz spoke to everyone loud and clear, telling them to fall back. Each person reacted in their own way with varying degrees of hesitation, but eventually all of them retreated to make distance from Double as instructed. After all, Ainz was effectively the leader of the alliance and so far he had shown himself to have multiple powerful and dangerous tricks up his sleeve. There was no strong reason to defy his instructions when the world was at stake.

[Gate]

Once again Ainz raised his hand and conjured a dark portal above Double. Like recently before, the portal was regular-sized. After seeing various kinds of things coming out of the portal, Rose now didn't know what to expect to come out from it this time.

Whoosh!

Soon, a blinding light of orange color came out from the portal similar to the miniature sun from before. But this time the projectile coming down at Double was more in the shape of a lance than a sphere.

Boom!

Like before, the impact created a blinding flash which made everyone cover their eyes in reflex. What Rose immediately noticed after Meru recovered her vision was another newcomer standing next to Double's core.

The newcomer this time was clearly female. The top half of her attire was a decorated breastplate with a cape fluttering behind her back under her medium-length black hair. The bottom half was an armored skirt with leggings covering her thighs and metal greaves covering her knees and below. The overall color theme of her attire was mainly black with crimson accents. Her face was visible for everyone to see, but no one could find any trace of 'life' in her eyes and expression which were, to put it into words... blank like a puppet.

Highly contrasting her dark crimson attire, the weapon she was wielding was a brilliantly shining huge golden axe. The blade of the axe was over half as big as her own body, and its total length was probably longer than her body height. Yet, she could casually carry it around with one hand.

The white knight who didn't fall back with the rest of the alliance forces approached the female crimson warrior, and their eyes met. No words came out from their mouths, they just nodded simultaneously after a single second. Rose, and probably everyone else who saw the exchange, knew that something big would soon come from the two mysterious reinforcement units courtesy of Ainz Ooal Gown.

Both the white knight and the crimson warrior raised their weapons straight up, preparing to strike. Their respective weapons began shining brilliantly and strong wind gusts blew from their position.

"Twin Maximize Magic: Final Hope"

Ainz extended his golden staff forward and cast a spell which immediately enveloped the two fighters in an equally brilliant aura, clearly implying that the spell was some sort of empowering spell. Immediately after, the gust of wind stopped and there was a deafening silence which was very brief, but felt longer than it should.

"World Break"

"Finishing Strike; Kaiser Fall"

Both of the fighters called out their attacks. This was probably the only time everyone could hear the crimson warrior's voice, which was feminine but very mechanical, fully reinforcing the implication that she was a human-looking automaton.

What immediately happened next was difficult to put into words. All Rose could see through Meru's vision was another blinding flash of light accompanied by a continuous ringing sound and a wind gust even stronger than before. Bracing herself against the blinding light and the wind gust, Meru's eyes were closed and therefore Rose couldn't see anything for a while.

What Rose knew upon regaining vision was the fact that both the white knight and the crimson warrior were gone. There was no trace of their presence left at all. At the same time, she also saw the fact that Double's main body core had been destroyed and the sinister black aura had disappeared. The attack the duo had done, whatever it was, had definitely made a devastating strike.

"Hahahaha...!"

Boom! Bang! Bang!

All six legs of Double detached themselves from the main body, flew away like rickety rockets to random directions, and exploded like fireworks before ceasing to exist. Meanwhile, the main body toppled over and disintegrated into red mist. What was left after the red mist dispersed was the human form of Double; Flo and Frau, down on the ground and looking very beaten up.

"...Have we won?"

The one asking the question was the Captain. There was no answer since pretty much everyone else also had the same question. However, before long, Flo and Frau stood up, alerting everyone else.

Flo and Frau were now limping over to the crowd of the alliance forces while speaking in a pitiful tone of speech.

"Pity... it's a pity..."

"Yeah... they broke our toy again... pity..."

"We can't revive Profound Darkness this way..."

"With this, we can't become Profound Darkness..."

"Is this the end...?"

"It seems to be the end... in that case, let's give them a reward"

"Yeah. A reward from us to him...!"

"I'm giving you... me!"

Right as the twins spoke the last part, they both raised one hand forward straight towards Ainz and shot out a dark, almost jet-black projectile from each before disintegrating completely into red mist. The two projectiles immediately went straight towards Ainz at incredible speed.

"Ainz-sama!"

"Papa!"

Albedo and Lily jumped in front of Ainz within an instant and braced themselves, clearly intending to take the attack for him. However, as if they had intelligence, the projectiles swerved. They went around both Lily and Albedo, and then they hit Ainz directly.

"Ainz-sama! No!"

"Papa!"

Both Albedo and Lily shouted in great surprise seeing what had happened. After taking the hit from the projectiles, Ainz slightly curled his body forward, seemingly in pain.

"Uhh! What is this?"

Ainz asked the question, the answer of which nobody else knew thus there were no words coming out of anyone else's mouth.

Wham!

Suddenly there was a sound of something hitting the ground nearby. Nearly everyone looked there and saw that it was Guardian and Matoi, having returned from their recuperation.

"Oh no. Were we too late?"

Guardian spoke with a grim-looking face as she saw what was happening to Ainz. Without warning, Albedo rushed to Guardian and held her shoulders.

"What's happening to Ainz-sama!? You know something, don't you!? Speak or I'll-"

Bam!

Suddenly someone else came down from above and landed next to Albedo. It was Cocytus, and he immediately put his hand on Albedo's shoulder.

"Calm. Down. She. Won't. Be. Able. To. Answer. If. You. Pressure. Her. Like. That."

Albedo froze up for a brief moment, and then she let go of Guardian. Seemingly knowing the urgency of the situation, Guardian spoke up without delay.

"Dark Falz Double has given Ainz the essence of their being and the other Dark Falz they have devoured. Combined with the Dark Falz Elder within Ainz, he now has all Dark Falz within him, which means he will become Profound Darkness, the destroyer of worlds"

"What did you say!? Can it be undone? Tell me it can be undone!"

Albedo spoke with a clearly panicked tone of speech. At the same time, the rest of the surviving Floor Guardians have arrived on the scene, immediately showing their fear and worry upon seeing what was happening.

"I can... I might be able to undo it, but I only can make the attempt after the transformation is complete, and if it fails I will... ARKS will have no choice but to strike him down"

All the Floor Guardians who heard Guardian's answer froze up for a second. Shalltear was then the first one to break the silence.

"You better make it work or I'll kill you right then and there!"

Before Guardian could respond to the threat, Demiurge held Shalltear's shoulder and spoke to her. He was visibly agitated but he still tried to keep his calm.

"Right now ARKS is still our ally. Don't point your weapon at them"

"I-Is there anything we can do to raise the chance of success?"

Mare asked Guardian with his face on the verge of tears. His eyes repeatedly glanced at Ainz who was still visibly struggling with his predicament. Guardian then replied with a straight face and slightly narrowed eyes.

"Just believe in the willpower of your Overlord..."

Guardian slowly stepped forward, approaching Ainz who was still struggling and confused. She pulled out her katana and stood in front of him, waiting for what would happen next.


[X][X][X]


What is this sensation?

Ainz was confused beyond his wits. After taking a hit from Double's last ditch attack he was suddenly engulfed in a dark red aura which he couldn't control, and now his senses were a mess.

"You really messed this up, huh? Now you have all the Dark Falz within you and you'll soon become the Profound Darkness"

Elder spoke to Ainz from within, and Ainz wasn't happy in the slightest hearing that. He had known to refrain from absorbing Double upon victory thanks to Guardian having warned him, but he hadn't taken into account the possibility of Double voluntarily assimilating themselves into him.

Although faintly, Ainz had heard what Guardian had said to his Floor Guardians and therefore he knew what was going to happen. He would become Profound Darkness and Guardian would attempt to undo it, but success was not guaranteed and in the case of failure, ARKS would kill him.

Is this going to be my end...? Just after founding my own kingdom?

Seeing his predicament, Ainz felt a plethora of emotions coursing through his mind. He felt regret for seeing his end so soon. He felt more regret for failing to protect the legacy of his friends. But what he felt the most among all...

"Ainz-sama!"

"Papa!"

He felt regret for leaving the Floor Guardians, the children of his friends, and also his own children behind. They all had been looking up to him with great admiration in each their own way, and now they would have to witness him leaving them behind with their own eyes. He was aware of their feelings, the abandonment trauma from their creators, and he never wished to add onto them. But now, things have drastically changed and it turned out he would become unable to stay with them.

Still, not wanting to leave without some kind of a testament and will, Ainz mustered enough of his willpower to speak with all his might.

"Guardians!"

"We're here, Ainz-sama!"

"In the case I really become an abominable creature without any memory of who I am, I want all of you to cooperate with ARKS to take me down and end me!"

All the Floor Guardians who heard Ainz's words froze in shock hearing the order. Albedo was the one who broke the brief silence.

"B-But Ainz-sama-!"

"Silence! This order is absolute! If I cannot remain as who I am, there is no use remaining in this world! Heed my order!"

There was another second of silence, but then all Floor Guardians shouted together.

"As you command, Ainz-sama!"

Ainz felt a bit satisfied seeing the affirmation of his Floor Guardians. He then turned his head to Lily.

"Lily! If I am gone, tell your big brother that I bequeath the entirety of Ainz Ooal Gown as a guild to him. Tell him to lead Ainz Ooal Gown at his discretion!"

"Papa...!"

"Other than that, I order you to live happily at your own wish. Live free, Lily. I am always proud of you and I shall be wishing your happiness from far away"

As Ainz spoke to Lily, he walked to her and finally caressed her head as he spoke the last part. In response, she hugged Ainz tightly.

"I will, Papa...!"

"Ugh!"

Immediately after, Ainz felt the unusual sensations getting more intense and the aura around his body growing bigger. Seeing this, Ainz urged Lily to get away from him and stepped back. He then mustered all the willpower he had to stand upright for what was about to come soon.

Here it comes! Uuuugh-!

...

And then there were none.

All the weird sensations vanished. The dark red aura around Ainz's body also disappeared without a trace. Ainz no longer felt anything strange about his body, and he noticed everyone else around staring at him with a dumbfounded look.

"...What just happened?"

Ainz asked the question with a tone of speech which clearly displayed his confusion. His eyes were set at Guardian, who responded while putting her weapon away into thin air and slightly smiling.

"Heh, the Profound Darkness failed to manifest. It turns out you're not a suitable host for it after all"

Ainz's mind couldn't immediately process Guardian's answer, and therefore only a single word came out from his mouth after a brief silence.

"...What?"

"At least for the time being, you're safe"

Ainz had no idea how he should feel right now. On one hand, he was genuinely glad that he didn't disappear. But on the other hand, now every person around was staring at him after all the things he had said about his final farewell, bequeathing Nazarick to Pandora's Actor, and wishing for Lily's happiness from far away. As a result, a certain feeling began creeping up. The feeling of embarrassment.

I... Now I want to dig a hole and disappear!

But before Ainz could suffer the embarrassment for too long, Lily suddenly jumped at him and hugged him tightly again.

"I'm so glad you didn't disappear, Papa!"

Ainz froze up for a split second, but within that short time period all his embarrassment vanished to oblivion and the genuine happiness for being able to stay took over. His hand then reached Lily's head and caressed it gently once more.

"Ah... Yes, Lily. I am delighted that I still can stay here with you, and with everyone else as well"

Ainz looked around as he spoke the last part, addressing all the Floor Guardians who were seemingly still frozen up and looking dumbfounded. But soon one of them broke their silence.

"Waaaaaahhh! Ainz-sama! I'm so glad!"

It was Mare who burst into tears while saying the words, and the rest of the Floor Guardians also let go of what they have been holding within in each their own way.

Fwoosh~~

The celebration didn't last long because someone suddenly appeared within everyone's line of sight. It was a blue haired boy, visually not much older than Mare, dressed in mainly blue attire. Ainz had no idea who that was, and the Floor Guardians immediately turned to the boy in a fully alerted state as if the celebration and delight had never happened.

"Ah, pardon!"

Ryu suddenly spoke out with one hand raised. The implication was clear that the boy was an ally, so Ainz and the Floor Guardians relaxed their stance.

"Ahem! Let me introduce all of you to Xiao, the Head Administrator of ARKS"

Ainz remembered the name from the communication transmission before, but this was the first time he saw Xiao in person. Based on Ryu's words, Xiao could be the highest leader of ARKS, just like Ainz himself was currently the leader of his guild. Xiao's physique of a young boy made Ainz wonder, but he decided against questioning that.

"So, you are Ainz Ooal Gown? It's nice to meet you, but there is something I need to check on you. Would you be so kind to allow me?"

"Is this regarding the Dark Falz who are now within me? There are a lot of uncertainties in this matter, and I would be delighted to have any kind of answers. Go ahead"

Ainz answered, and then the Floor Guardians around him made way for Xiao who instantly blinked from his position to right in front of Ainz. His hands began radiating blue light, and then he slowly moved them throughout Ainz's body like a scanner of some sorts.

"How do you feel right now, Ainz Ooal Gown?"

"Umu..."

Ainz pondered about the question. Right now he felt essentially nothing strange. All parts of his body and senses were functioning normally. In fact, the only difference he felt was a bunch of hints that he had become even stronger than before, a sensation akin to the time when he had absorbed Elder with [Dark Wisdom].

"I feel... normal. To tell you the truth, I feel like I have obtained power. I feel like I have become stronger than a few minutes ago"

Right after Ainz spoke, suddenly he felt a realization.

Wait! Don't tell me-!

"Elder! Are there-?"

"Finally noticed, huh? Yeah, everybody else is here too now; Double, Loser, Apprentice. You have just made my space here a living hell, jerk"

"Hey, I didn't absorb Double! They assimilated themselves into me!"

"Yeah, so what? Hmph! They are all not saying a word and I'm not gonna either. Suit yourself with all of us within"

Once again, Ainz had no idea how he should feel with the answer he had just got. All of a sudden, he had become just like Guardian, having all Dark Falz within. He had gained more power, at the cost of having to host more freeloaders inside.

"Hmm, it's like what I calculated"

Ainz's muse was interrupted by Xiao's remark which was spoken as the blue lights on his hands dimmed. In response, he immediately inquired about it.

"What did you find out?"

"Guardian Melrose was just a little off from the truth. Indeed, Profound Darkness failed to manifest because you are not a suitable host. But that was not the only cause. The other factor is the fact that your own power was too great for it to break out from, having been made from weakened Falz to begin with. In short, you are now sealing all of them within you, assimilating their power into your own while at it"

"Are you saying that now I have become the seal of all Dark Falz from your world?"

"If you want to put it that way... yes"

Xiao put one hand behind his head as he answered, looking somewhat unsure. Shalltear and Albedo were the ones most visibly upset hearing the reveal, and it was understandable. However, Ainz gestured them to stay put and not raise any fuss.

"Is there anything I should watch out for?"

"According to my calculations, you should be fine as long as you don't get weakened yourself. At your current state, I calculate that your power is five times more than the minimum required to maintain the seal"

In other words, I only have to be careful not to let either my HP or MP fall below 20%... Wait! Right now my stats have shot up so high after absorbing all the Dark Falz! The mentioned 20% is probably about half the capacity of my very old self before absorbing Elder!

Ainz felt very excited within his mind, knowing the fact that his power had grown even further. He was now essentially unstoppable.

Wait! No, no. Don't get too excited. There's no guarantee this power will stay.

Ainz pondered for a moment more on this situation as everyone had varying looks of shock, surprise, and, in the case of the odd Slane Theocracy warrior girl with mismatched hair and eye-color, excitement. He could not quite understand how and why this happened. Frankly, only two things seemed to make sense.

First, his use of [Dark Wisdom] before on Elder, which could have planted some kind of 'seed' for this to happen. The second, and most important part, was the World Class Item that he wore within his abdomen. Perhaps he was simply reaching for an explanation, but his instincts were telling him that he was likely on the right track.

Still, it was something to be saved for later, as the current situation needed to be addressed first.

"I see. If by sealing all the Dark Falz within my body I gain more power which heightens my chance of surviving in this world, then I shall gladly accept this fate"

"I'm glad that you're very cooperative. Now, related to that matter, since all of the Dark Falz, the nemesis of ARKS, are within you, ARKS will have to put you under surveillance. Before you get too concerned, as long as you don't put yourself in a situation which may endanger the seal, ARKS will never intervene with your activities"

"Understandable. Even I would closely watch anything which can potentially endanger me in the future"

"Now... there's one more thing, and you might not like it..."

Xiao put one hand behind his head and averted his eyes from Ainz, a pretty clear sign of being nervous.

"I shall listen. Speak"

"Well, even while sealed, the presence of a Dark Falz on a planet makes Darkers occasionally spawn on random places, so..."

"Oh... I see..."

"ARKS will stay around to exterminate all Darkers on sight, but there's no denying that a new type of wild monsters has emerged on this planet and they are here to stay"

Ainz lowered his head a little and put one hand under his chin. The fact that now all Dark Falz were within him would mean that Darkers would constantly spawn on this planet, endangering everything, people and wildlife alike. Moreover, if it became known to the public that he was basically the source of all Darkers in the world, Ainz's standing would become unfavorable everywhere. Knowing this, Ainz raised his head and looked around, especially towards those not from either ARKS or Nazarick.

"Platinum Dragon Lord, and the two brave warriors from Slane Theocracy. You have heard the fact. What are your intentions regarding this matter from now on?"

Responding to the question, Tsar was the first one to answer.

"My position in my nation is not absolute. I will need to at least report this to the other councilors. However, the fact that you have saved the world is undeniable. I will see to it that this fact is made a classified information in Argland, never going to be known by the public eye"

After Tsar spoke his reply, the Captain stepped forward and spoke.

"I am merely the Captain of an elite squad in my country, so I'm obliged to report everything that happened here to the higher ups. In fact, the same applies to one of my squad members back home whom I believe is still scrying over us now. However, I'm in the same line of thinking as Platinum Dragon Lord. You have saved the world, and I will try in my utmost effort to convince them to make this fact a classified information"

"I'll keep it a secret, if you fight me!"

"Please disregard her words. I apologize on her behalf"

The answers from both parties were pretty favorable for Ainz, although there was still no telling if they would stay that way in practice. In the end, Ainz decided that there was nothing that could be done for the time being. It was time to go home and rest after the long and intense battle.


[X][X][X]


"Phew..!"

Ryu fell down sitting on the ground. The intense battle was over, and now that he was no longer tense, his legs lost their strength. He took a deep breath and let them all out in one go, feeling so relieved that the battle was over in the victory of the alliance. Feeling thirsty, he took one bottle of Monomate and drank it all, feeling fairly refreshed afterwards.

"Tired, oniichan?"

Hikaru spoke while smiling as she sat down on the ground next to Ryu.

"Well, isn't it obvious? I'm glad that it's over"

"Yeah, me too, oniichan"

There was a brief silence after Hikaru spoke, which was broken by Xiao who sat down next to Ryu as he spoke.

"Good job, Ryu and Hikaru. I'm glad that you're alright"

"Thanks, Xiao-kun. You have no idea how delighted I was when you came bringing reinforcements"

"Huh, yeah. It was hard but I was glad that I made it in time"

"So, I guess it's over for now?"

"Yes, for now. But as you may heard just now, ARKS will have to continue operating on and around this planet indefinitely"

"I've been here for so long that I don't really mind the extra time"

Xiao let out a small laugh hearing Ryu's reply before replying to that himself.

"I guess it can't be helped that I'll be bothering you a lot in regards of this planet from now on"

"Just... give me a break for a day or two"

"Hahaha! Sure. You've earned it. All of you have earned it"

Beep! Beep!

"Hmm?"

Ryu's communication device notified him of an incoming transmission, so he activated his photon interface and picked up the call.

"Hey, aniki!"

"Oh, it's you, Yukasa"

"Heeey! What's with the dull response? I came back with reinforcements as promised! Be more thankful, will you? I dragged the entire fleet with me after all!"

"Oh, yeah. Good job, I guess"

Yukasa was immediately seen facepalming on the other side of the transmission. Ryu just grinned seeing that.

"Heh! Anyway, we've prepared a party over here. Come back to the Team Ship! It's close enough to teleport directly"

"Huh? Party for what? For our victory?"

"No, you dummy! For celebrating you coming home alive and well, of course! So come back here since you're the party star!"

"Huh? Well..."

Ryu didn't know how to respond to that. He was not really good at parties to begin with, and now there was an entire celebratory party dedicated solely to him. But before he could think further, Hikaru held his hand.

"Let's go, oniichan. To our home"

"Ah... yes. Let's go home"

Both Ryu and Hikaru stood up while Xiao remained sitting on the ground, smiling at the two siblings. Ryu then waved his hand at the rest of his team who were standing around talking amongst themselves not far from there.

"Lily, Liz, Meru, Guardian. come here"

"Yes, Ryu-san! What's up?"

Lily dashed to Ryu within an instant as she replied, and the other three walked normally. Before answering, Ryu set up a teleportation beacon which would bring them to the Team Ship of IGNITE, the home of his and his one big, happy family.

"I want to introduce all of you to my family"

As Ryu spoke, he held Lily's hand and the two walked together into the teleportation device while the rest followed behind. His long adventure in this unknown world was finally over, and a new one would soon begin. But he was sure he would get through that as well because now he had everyone with him. Everything would be alright.


The End


Afterword:

So, yeah. That's it. Story's over. The end.

Well, maybe not. An epilogue chapter is in the works, and I'll post it in the next two weeks like in my standard schedule. Only then the story will be truly over.

See you again in two weeks, for the final time.