Ainz did not dare to waste a second. He had no idea how long Scathatch would give them as a head start to escape, but at the very least, it would be enough to make ample distance.

Signaling to Narberal, Ainz took off into a heated sprint, Narberal flying close through her Tier Magic. Gusts of wind surrounded Narberal, while the clanking of Ainz's armor and the heavy nature of his steps tore grooves into the tiled road beneath him.

Buildings began to blur and fade into the background at their current speed, but there was no one that could bear witness to the spectacle. Most of the Capital's inhabitants had either been captured, killed, or fled when the flames of Ghenna were erected. All that was left were the Adventurers that remained to fight, and the King's guard which fortified the royal palace, and didn't consider leaving.

Thousands of thoughts were practically filling Ainz's mind, but the majority of them were unassumingly focused on Narberal who expressionlessly kept pace with him. Unlike him, she had never experienced the horror of what being hunted by the Rune Witch felt like, and truly did not understand their odds.

Narberal, like many of the Great Tomb's inhabitants, had read through the information Ainz had given them about potential YGGDRASIL Raid Bosses that may be wandering the New World. Even so, Ainz could not understand where their unwavering faith for him came from. He was a lone Player in this world, and had nothing else but his experience to navigate through the hell of trying to solo bosses that awaited him. Yeah. No. He wasn't insane enough to go for solo play!

Instead, he had to be smart. To be careful, and defeat only those he had confidence in facing to consolidate his power, and only then would he consider fighting openly. The strength of his 'Create Undead' skill scaled with the level and nature of the corpse or material he re-animated. In YGGDRASIL, game restriction may have existed to limit the created undead's parameters and growth, but this was the New World.

Ainz was still experimenting, but he couldn't stop himself from imagining what would happen if he used a Raid Boss's body as material to create an undead…

Now's not the time to go off tangent!

Snapping his focus back where it mattered, Ainz stared hard at Narberal who finally noticed and shifted her gaze to match his. Her brows furrowed in confusion before she looked herself over, wondering what her lord was staring at, but coming up short.

Ainz shook his head, watching Narberal's actions. If she had the leisure to look herself over in this kind of situation, then she was not ready to face it. That, or she still believed that he would triumph over this hurdle.

Even now, she was likely putting him on a pedestal that Ainz felt he had no chance of living up. However, if he fell here, then Narberal would die or live a fate worse than death.

Unacceptable.

As Ainz bent his knees and leapt up to clear a low-hanging bridge over a capital waterway, he suddenly stopped and glanced behind him.

Scathatch was basically a dot in the distant alleyway, but he could tell that she'd never lost track of them throughout the winding path they'd taken through the capital's buildings and streets.

A caw alerted Ainz to the birds perched throughout the capital.

Scathath practically had eyes everywhere.

"Lord Ainz?" Narberal hovered beside Ainz before dispelling her magic and landing on the ground. "Have you finally decided to crush her?"

Narberal looked far too expectant that the hope in her eyes pushed against Ainz's psyche.

He really wasn't as great or domineering as the Tomb's inhabitants thought of him. To them, he was the last of the Supreme Ones, and the greatest of them who led them.

Ainz kept silent, turning away from Narberal with an air of depression setting in around him.

"Lord Ainz?"

"Demiurge should have already left, and Shirou was swept away." Ainze muttered. "We are all that remain of Nazerick's forces in the capital."

"Yes?" Narberal could not understand what Ainz was getting at, and Ainz had no intention of explaining.

Hardening his resolve, Ainz grew determined. He knew the odds, but he also knew what he considered worth protecting over himself.

The Rune Witch was fair. If she said she'd give them a chance to escape then she meant it, but this was under the assumption that Ainz was a 'Warrior.'

Therein lies the opportunity.

Ainz suddenly grabbed Narberal by the back of her cloak, and wrenched her up off her feet. His tall stature and current strength parameters enabled such action with little difficulty. More so when Narberal was too stunned to put up resistance.

All at once, Ainz dispelled Perfect Warrior, and returned to his main class as a Magic Caster. Regal robes took the place of black armour, a staff emitting dreadful dark energy clasped within his hand. A red jewel that acted as the lapel of his robes shone with menacing light.

He stretched his hand out as if clasping for a door.

[GATE]

A rift instantly opened before him and Narberal's eyes. It was only then that Narberal got an idea of what was happening.

"L-Lord Ainz NO! I-I can help!" She began to resist and squirm in protest.

Ainz didn't budge.

There was no time. Scathatch should have noticed his change immediately and would take swift countermeasures.

"Release Pandora's Actor in my place, and Albedo will take charge."

"N-No wait!" Narberal pulled at the hand holding her to no avail.

"Tell Demiurge that team Darkness must remain."

Ainz tossed Narberal through the GATE without delay. No sooner, the GATE spell warped and shattered from a red spear piercing through it, and then stabbing itself into a distant building over the bridge. Cracks formed over the building's walls, rapidly climbing and forming a spider web-like depression before the entire structure collapsed. The spear then dissipated into fragments of red light.

Right.

Unlike Cu, Scathatch could throw her spears like missiles and have them return to her through Runecraft etched into the weapon.

Ainz forcibly stopped the uneasy shaking of his fingers.

Scathath still stood in the same place, only she was chambering back from having tossed her spear like a javelin. The tiles beneath her feet had cratered and splintered into shards. Around her, magic energy formed flashing runic patterns that floated in the air and then integrated with the surroundings.

Ainz was not well versed in Scathatch's Runic Arts, but it was abundantly clear what she'd done when he could no longer re-activate his GATE spell. She'd locked down and restricted the space of the area.

Thereafter, she was done waiting and began her approach.

Staring into the eerie red soul fire of his eyes, Ainz noticed the shift in Scathatch's demeanor as his classification shifted from an 'undead wearing armor,' to 'higher undead lich.' Somehow the distinction was either personal or added more weight to the issue. In fact, 'lich' was all it took to harden Scathatch's agro, and Ainz would have no idea that it had to do with one last message from a feral bound biting him in the back even now.

"Fly. Haste. Bless of Magic Caster. Breath Ward. Field of Force."

Ainz levitated off the ground, buffing himself with numerous status ups, and quickly soaring while using his arcane vision to keep track of Scathatch's movements. Then, all at once, she vanished with an instantaneous burst of agility and speed.

"Rabbit ears." Ainz immediately heighted his other senses while trying to map out any possibility of fleeing safely.

"Greater Telepe- Tch."

The space around him hardened and restricted his body's displacement through the void. It was likely a branch of his own 8Th Tier skill, 'Dimensional Lock.' The runes he'd seen Scathatch deploy earlier must have also limited short-scale space movement as well.

He'd have to retreat using normal conventions.

Ainz perked up at the sound of pavement shattering near him.

There!

"Magic Arrow." He quickly began to cast. A blue arrow of mana formed, swirling with dense magic energy that formed a funnel to its tip. "Triplet Maximize Magic. Boost. Fire!"

Conical rings formed around the arrow, its size and presence rapidly expanding before it was fired out.

Ainz didn't even bother checking to assess the damage and immediately blasted off as a violent explosion echoed behind him. His speed enabled him to leave Re-Estize's capital in a matter of seconds, wind whipping his robes back.

He had no doubts that his actions were far from enough to escape, but he hoped that he'd at least bought himself some time. He wasn't stupid. What he desperately intended on doing was fleeing the area that locked down spatial movement. Every skill had a deployment range, and leaving that range should disable that skill's effects. This was universal.

Now, the only question was how far he'd have to go before he could effectively cast a GATE to escape.

In the end, perhaps he was wishing for too much.

A flash of red near his periphery had Ainz's stomach sinking with a feeling of dread.

"Body of Effulgent Beryl!" He hurriedly cast a skill that would nullify an instance of bludgeoning damage before he was kicked down from the air.

Above him, a crimson runic circle flashed revealing Scathatch had already leapt and gotten above him a few seconds ago. The kick that had sent him down was followed by a full-body downward thrust aimed at the jewel in the middle of his chest.

Smashing into the ground in a distant meadow away from the capital, Ainz barely had time to defend. No, he didn't even bother.

If that red spear stabbed him, its anti-Evil properties would do more than just harm him on a physical level.

He couldn't let himself get hit.

Desperately, he reached his hands forward.

"Time Stop!"

An unseen ripple of power encompassed the area, changing the world in Ainz's view into a hazy gray. Stopped less than a foot above him, Scathatch's spear seemed to have shifted to aim for his legs.

S-She had been trying to cripple him?

Ainz shivered, hurriedly repositioning himself out of the way, but was practically sweating when he could instinctively tell that his skill would not last any longer.

She was frozen, but the duration of time she remained that way was rapidly dwindling. The greater the strength of the adversary, the weaker the effect of the spell. Against a Raid Boss who could solo scores of Players, the skill was only enough to buy a little more time.

Should he attack her now?

Ainz was not tempted. Unless he could instantly kill her, he'd rather use the chance to-

A rune flickered over Scathatch, and she instantly shattered through the time restraints. Then frowning as she landed and noticed Ainz no longer in the place he should have been, she reassessed the enemy before her.

Even more magic energy erupted around her, her stance shifting dangerously close to Cu's just before he'd unleashed a skill he'd never shown in-game.

She was skipping the warm up, and readying herself for the main course.

Ainz gnashed his teeth. One vs One was hopeless. He was too unprepared.

In the end, he grew resigned, but he'd also begun thinking as the chase had ensued. If Scathatch wished to enforce a contract, did he not have in his borrowed possession, something that could void it with a small nick? He'd promised Shirou that he'd only use it once to save a dear friend, and he wasn't sure if it would dissipate with his own personal use, but he was out of options at this point.

He raised his hands up, watching her not even bat-an-eye nor ease her stance.

She looked angry, staring holes right through him despite maintaining a cold expression.

"No longer fleeing?" She said icily.

A heavy pressure assailed Ainz, but he held his ground and tried to be reasonable. "...Is it not futile?" He muttered.

Scathatch observed him silently, but there was no mercy or respite in her gaze.

"Naturally." She answered, gradually changing her stance. It no longer resembled Cu's form, but the pressure didn't ease at all.

She jabbed the butt of her spear into the ground, and the clanking of chains instantly alerted Ainz of a discrepancy. Back when he'd spoken with her before, she'd at least reciprocated his words with her own, but this time, her entire demeanor was poised and reticent.

Something was wrong. None of this seemed right, especially when that hellish gate of all things was summoned again. The same attractive pressure began to tug on Ainz as the doors of the gate swung wide. Ice crept into the surroundings, black feathers and ominous crowing birds, heralding an ill omen.

Stiffly, Ainz backed away, mana flaring around him to resist the pulling force as he realized he'd made a mistake. The cordial witch he'd spoken with before was gone. In her place was a vengeful and stubborn warrior.

"D-Didn't you say we'd sign a contract and then go our separate ways?" Ainz grimaced, but his fate was sealed the moment he, a Magic Caster, was firmly within range of a Warrior.

There was no time to react.

Just like Narberal, Ainz found his defenses breached. Then he was hoisted and thrown through the Gate that began to close upon his entry.

Struggling to escape to no avail, he could only stare as Scathatch mouthed to him without a flicker of emotion.

"I changed my mind."

Bitch!

The Gates of Dunscaith closed, welcoming its newest addition.

Dammit.

Tumbling through what felt like a void or a rip in space, Ainz eventually crashed into cold ground surrounded by towering trees near a hidden isle by the coast where violent waves crashed upon the shore. A dreary eeriness permeated the area, ethereal shackles forming over Ainz's wrists and ankles that weighed down on him like a boulder over his shoulders.

[Curse of Dunscaith]

That debilitating status effect has befallen him, cutting his stats and physical attributes by half so long as he remained trapped in this domain.

Spirits drifted in the air, undead and skeletons roaming within the underbrush of the trees and grass-filled plains.

And there situated upon an islet connected by a rocky outcrop was a stronghold that even the dead and damned wandered away from. The walls were smeared and battered by time, the watchposts dark and dim, and yet a stifling pressure was emitted from the structure where only the Witch remained in isolation bound by duty.

This place, Ainz shuddered.

Scathatch hadn't killed him, but perhaps it would have been a fate preferable to this hellscape.

The Heart of the Land of Shadows.

Fortress Dunscaith.

Ainz balled his hands into fists, knowing that he couldn't allow himself to stay trapped here. Scathatch was ruthless to undead and the demonic, and there was no telling when she'd pop back in. If her personal investigation turned up fruitless, she'd come to press him for answers; a situation that he was not looking forward to at all. In all likelihood, she wasn't through with him.

How much time did he have?

Scathatch struck him as a stubborn woman whose ego was…arguably justifiable given her capabilities- but nevertheless!

She would be in no rush now that she'd tossed him into her personal hell.

The crunching of grass and dirt depressing over footsteps snapped Ainz out of his desperate musing. His fiery eyes of soul fire shot up, staring towards numerous identical pairs of fellow bound skeletons, undead, and wraiths.

They too were prisoners of the land.

Tensing, Ainz released his magic aura, but watched in growing interest as the lesser undead froze in their places, and the higher tier undead and wraiths narrowed their eyes on him.

Overlord, the highest class of a lich.

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