Chapter 3: Darkness Descends

Part 5

With great effort and with great displeasure, Palyntana opened her eyes. Before her she saw what looked like a stone floor, which was odd considering the last thing she remembered was fighting on the plains outside the capital.

With even greater effort she tried to lift her head as well in order to try and understand where she had landed.

She found herself staring at a place she was unfamiliar with.

All that she could deduce was that she was inside some kind of stone room with no sunlight and nothing more than a few candles that illuminated the room quite poorly.

Her eyes felt sleepy and heavy but just as she wanted to wipe the rheum out of them she noticed…

Huh? My arms?

She finally realized that no matter how much she struggled her arms and legs were held tight.

Her entire body had been bound to a wooden X shaped cross, leaving her no chance of resistance. As if that weren't enough she suddenly felt that it was rather chilly for some reason.

"My clothes?"

Palyntana screamed out as she realized on her that she was, on top of it all, naked.

In her entire life she had never bared herself to anyone other than her mother or maids. In this position she had no way to cover her herself up even the slightest.

The shock finally caused her to begin remembering and understanding why she was in this position as horror started appearing on her face.

A torture chamber?

It finally dawned on her. She had been taken prisoner by the henchmen of the Sorcerer King and was about to be interrogated and/or tortured.

Barely keeping the tears from falling, she started to panic and struggled to undo the chains around her wrists.

Even when she tried to use her magic she found that it was useless as the restraints seemed to jam her magic somehow.

Truly desperate, she began imagining the various things that would be done to her. Considering the fact that she was naked, it was not difficult to imagine that she would be abused not just physically but also sexually with losing her purity being one of the least horrible things to happen to her.

Palyntana bit her lip in frustration. She had been born into a poor family that left her with no hope in life other than to be married off to some rich pervert that would treat her like a possession if not a slave.

With no light in her life she had thought of taking the easy way out countless times. It was not until the priest had come around to test the magical talent of the local children that she had been discovered to have a powerful aptitude for a certain type of magic.

Her talent was so good that she was pulled from her backwater village and brought to the capital in exchange for her parents being provided with adequate support.

She still remembered how excited she was when she first rode into the capital as a young girl, thinking that the Six Gods themselves must reside in this place.

After she completed her training in Reconnaissance, Divination, and Illusion Magic she was recruited by the Windflower Scripture and then secretly transferred to the Black Scripture a year later.

A lifetime of promise and potential…

And now she was reduced to this: a naked prisoner in some filthy chamber where she would most likely die after being subjected to countless methods of torture.

She thought back on how she predicted darkness enveloping light, thinking it was the Dragon Lord resurrecting. She still didn't understand why her prediction had been wrong but she felt that it was an appropriate description for the moment of her death. This badly lit place fit that prediction quite nicely…

As she continued resisting images of what awaited her popping into her mind, she heard the door on the other end of the room open and she quickly closed her eyes and tried to turn away her head.

Even if she could not cover herself, she absolutely refused to look her torturer in the eye as he did his foul deeds.

"Ara, so you're finally awake. Had a good rest?"

Palyntana felt surprised. She never expected to hear a female voice here of all places. What's more, she felt that this voice sounded vaguely familiar, although she couldn't place where she had heard it before.

"Well then, since wasting time with small talk is pointless why don't we start? But first you can begin by looking at me."

Palyntana did not move a muscle. No matter what she would not give her torturer the pleasure of seeing her face twist in pain as they performed their dirty task.

There was a short silence…

"Haah, I initially decided to go easy on you since you're a girl. But seeing this rebellious attitude is rather depressing… ah, I have a proposal. If you don't open your eyes and look at me right now then I'll go skewer your other friends first and then return after you've cooled off and feed you what's left of them. Sound good?"

It was not the threat of being fed her comrades so much as the fact that they were all captured alive that caused Palyntana to open her eyes and look at her torturer in shock.

To her surprise she saw a beautiful petite girl in front of her. She wore a black dress with red lacing and looked as out of place as a nun on a battlefield. Why did a pretty girl like her work as a torturer? It made no sense.

At the same time she felt a strange chill coming from the crimson eyes of the girl.

….

Palyntana's eyes widened to the point that she thought they would fall out.

She finally remembered why the voice sounded so familiar. This was the Vampire that had gone toe to toe with the Black Scripture and forced them to use [Downfall of Castle and Country]. But the fact that she was alive caused horror in the deepest parts of her mind to take over.

Shalltear noticed the shock in Palyntana's eyes and smirked as she brought her face closer to that of her prisoner.

"Oya, did you perhaps feel just for a moment as if you recognized me? That's great! I thought that if you had nothing to do with that incident than I might have had to kill you without having any fun. Ainz-sama does have a hatred of torturing innocent humans after all."

"I-I-Impossible, you were killed by that adventurer Momon. The Theocracy investigated the battlefield; no one could have survived that fight."

"You're half-right I suppose. I was indeed killed by the adventurer Momon. However…"

At this point the scarlet eyes of Shalltear widened to the point that they covered all the white in her eyes as she shed any trace of humanity in front of Palyntana. Her mouth widened to inhuman proportions as the large fangs in her mouth slid out.

"What you louts don't know is that Momon and Ainz-sama are the same person. In other words, because of your toy's power I was mind-controlled and rebelled against and was killed by my master who is like a god to me. Now how do you think I'll treat the people responsible?"

At this point Palyntana's mind was truly brought to a complete standstill between the fear and confusion of hearing that the vampire they thought had died was alive and was about to torture her. Now the famous adventurer Momon turned out to be an imposter!

Wait! I heard that the only reason that E-Rantel hasn't rebelled against a skeleton lord ruling over them is because Momon is acting as a mediator between them. But that means…

Palyntana's face twisted into an expression of anguish as the realization dawned on her of what awaited her and the poor people of E-Rantel that had placed their faith in a false shepherd.

"Seems like you have understood partially just how great my lord is. I just adore the expression you're making right now! Watching you torture yourself mentally like this is almost as good as the real thing. Well then, let's get started with the actual fun. Since Ainz-sama has given all twelve of you to me to play with until I'm satisfied, I'll take my time and do it really slowly…"

Shalltear's grin became even wider as she produced strange phallic objects seemingly out of thin air as she got even closer to Palyntana.

"My master and creator Peroronchino-sama left me with these. From what I recall they were quite expensive to get so consider this my grace to you."

Palyntana had no idea what these strange colorful objects were and wished she would never find out as she struggled with all her might to break free from her restraints as much as she could but to no avail.

"Let's start with this one! Where should I put it do you think? Where? Where? Where? Where? Where? Where? Where? Where?"

Palyntana screamed out knowing full well that no one would come to her rescue. But her defensive instinct kicked in and her desperation caused her to emit a violent scream as she continued squirming in horror.

"Yes, yes, continue screaming like that it's so exciting. Which gives me an idea. Let's put it here first!"

"No please stop! Anywhere but there! Noooooo…"

Just what kind of tortures did Shalltear put her prisoners through? After she was done they were delivered to Demiurge for variable 'uses'. How long did it take for each of them to lose their minds? Some tried to commit suicide multiple times. Others just simply lost all reason. A few of them had an even worse fate in store that is better left unspoken. But the Black Scripture was never seen again.

The darkness had swallowed up the finest warriors of the human race. Now only one still stood between Nazarick and the freedom of all humans. The strongest one…

Author's afterword:

If you were expecting hardcore torture scene too bad (maybe next time)

So it turns out that the next overlord volume is due earliest 2nd or even 31st of March which I feel conflicted about. On one hand it means that I'll be able to finish this story before the real thing comes out. On the other hand it means I have to wait maybe two months before I can roam reddit and 4chan for summary and spoiler. Anyways thanks as always for reading the chapter through to the end. Don't forget to like and follow as it keeps me motivated to write more. Lastly I want to thank my amazing beta again for his hard work and valuable insights so give it up for 7137!

And as always burn in hell yen press and…

GLORY TO AINZ OOAL GOWN!