"Looks like we have some company," Solution Epsilon, a proud member of the Pleiade Battle Maids, called out to the woman behind her, "Do these things have a death wish? Honestly, one would think they'd learn their lesson during our first altercation." Her voice echoed across the outstretched stone walls around her; the traces of annoyance laced atop her words suggested a vast amount of apathy toward the present situation.

"Come on, Solution, turn that frown upside down!" One of her comrades placed a hand on her left shoulder, "Anyhow, I'll take care of this batch. Get behind me; we wouldn't want your precious curls to end up soaked in blood, now would we?." The impish smile plastered on the woman's face stretched from one ear to the other.

"Although I tend to share your depraved tendencies, Lupusregina, I can't comprehend why you enjoy slaughtering beasts such as these." Solution's hair swayed left as she shook her head. "Lord Ainz instructed us to inspect the tomb's surroundings, so let's try to be quick. I would prefer our report to be the first one submitted."

"Right, right. However, that'll depend on how deep this quaint little cave is," Lupusregina eyed the suspiciously calm Solution, "And even if this tunnel were to end after we defeat these lizards, I doubt that we'd beat Yuri and Narberal to the punch. We might beat Entoma and Shizu, though!"

"I guess we'll just have to see. Now, pay attention. It'd be bad if one of these things manages to gouge one of your eyes out."

"Cmon! I'm not that weak!"

Lupusregina turned her back on her sister. Solution's expectant gaze was a bucket of cold water to her lively mood, 'Honestly, Sol…'

"Graughch!"

A figure twice Lupusregina's size sprung toward her from the shadowy depths of the unlit tunnel before her. The monster tried to pierce her tanned neck with its curved teeth, but the only thing its maw managed to grasp was air.

"And down ya go!" Lupus brought down her crosier upon the beast swiftly and decisively. The weapon clashed against the reptile's scales. Its biological armor was no match for the maid's strength; its brittle bones, surrounded by a tightly woven layer of blue flesh, crumpled with unsurmountable ease.

"Behind you."

"Yeah, yeah," Lupus half-hazardly responded to Solution's warning. Her weapon was deeply lodged into her first victim's corpse; there was no way she'd manage to pry it off in time to block the incoming monster's attack. As such, she decided to face the blow head-on. "Oh, my! What big eyes you have!" Her hands clutched her prey by the upper and lower jaw. The beast had tried to bite off her head. She returned the ghastly stare the creature was sending her way before eliminating it. Lupus plunged one of her hands deeper into the reptile's mouth before suddenly manifesting a set of claws. The monster was quick to go limp.

"Alright, on to the next one!"

"That should be the last of them," Solution forced her gaze toward the darkness ahead. "I can't sense anymore of them, so let's get going." Her creator, Herohero, had ingrained upon her a set of abilities shared only by one of the tomb's Floor Guardians. As a result, she could perceive even the most minute movements within a certain radius, a rather handy skill when delving into unknown territory. Among her sisters, Solution was the only one who could spot an enemy cowering under high-ranked invisibility skills.

"Okie dokie, just give me one second," Lupus walked toward the most intact corpse.

"Don't tell me you're planning on eating it. Drake meat isn't exactly the tastiest."

Lupus stared at Solution, dumbfounded, "Of course not! At least not right now…" Lupus was quick to sever the creature's extremities. After pushing the monster's head, arms, and legs off to the side, Solution's companion sliced up the reptile into ten evenly cut slabs of meat. Its once alabaster white scales were now drenched under a thick layer of blood. This only enticed Lupusregina further, "Besides, we don't know if these Drakes are the same as the ones back in the New World! Once we're back home, I wanna ask Tokitu to roast it for me. You can have a slice if you want one!"

Solution watched as her sister pushed the monster's remains into her inventory, "I'll abstain, thanks."

The next ten minutes were the definition of uneventful. After disposing of the small pack of monsters, the duo ran into many diverging paths; unfortunately, most led to a dead end. Only through Lupusregina's sensitive senses did they discover a pathway hidden under a vast layer of crystal and moss. After traversing the small opening, they were forced to maneuver through a passage riddled with stalagmite. Solution had no issue making her way through; her slimy nature allowed her to crawl through even the smallest openings. Lupusregina, on the other hand, was forced to contort her body into a myriad of unnatural shapes. The wet puddles scattered across the ground only served to impede the young woman's movements.

"Ugh, can you remind me why I can't just cut through all of these damn spikes?!" Lupus spat on the ground after jumping over the last stalagmite.

"Go right ahead, be my guest. Just keep in mind that you'll have to pull yourself out of the rubble without my help," Solution stepped aside, allowing Lupus to stretch her arms.

Back when Lupus was still integrating into Carne Village, she was ordered to scout, explore, and conquer a nearby cave enshrouded by the forest outside its borders. Amid her foolishness, she tried to stretch one of the tiny passageways inside it to accommodate her body. The tunnel collapsed as a result of her carelessness. The Golems under her jurisdiction were forced to destroy the entire cave system to help her. The ordeal earned her a stern talking to by her master.

"Guess I'm too strong for my own good, ey?" Beta poked her cheeks, hoping to get a reaction from her sister.

"Sure, let's go with that," Solution sighed before focusing on the path ahead of her.

The duo's surroundings molded into something unexpected after another minute of walking. The narrow hallway around them morphed into an increasingly expansive opening. The large chamber was illuminated by a single fissure etched into the ceiling; the hole bathed the cave in a mellow orange light that filled one's heart with a sense of reassurance that put one's troubles at ease. This feeling of warmth would be quickly spirited away by the cavern's inhabitants. Walking aimlessly around the chamber was a group of lanky, disorganized Skeletons. They roamed the space with no clear destination; some even crashed against the towering pillars of stone spread across the cavern.

"Well, ain't this something!" Lupus took a couple of steps forward, only to be hoisted up by one of her sister's slimy appendages.

"Lupus, dear, please be aware of her surroundings."

Lupusregina looks down only to see a nearly bottomless pit. "Yeesh, thanks for the save, Sol."

Now that she looked closer, Lupus could see over a dozen buildings etched into the cavern's walls. The only thing connecting them were a few bridges suspended in the air. It was evident, however, that one could access the other structures through carefully carved-out tunnels in the walls. Lupus walked towards the edge Solution had just dragged her away from, "Now that's a big pile of rocks," Even the buildings' roofs were composed of stone. One had to wonder: who created such an elaborate fortress?

"Let's head back," Solution called out while navigating the dozens of stalagmites behind her, "There's no use staying here. Lord Ainz instructed us to retreat if we find something of note; I'm pretty sure a small underground city qualifies as 'of note,' so let's get going."

Lupusregina took one last look at the creatures prancing around the empty ruins before obliging, "Alright."

Solution and Lupusregina tilted their heads in amazement and confusion after passing through the inner wall of Nazarick's graveyard. Two stout maids sat against the pillars upholding the graveyard's center mausoleum—a very unexpected sight.

"Is that…" Lupus' golden eyes quickly adjusted to the blue flames spewing from the torches around her.

"To think those two would beat us to the punch."

"Heyyy!" A feminine voice called out to the duo from atop the mausoleum's stairs. The stout figure rose to its feet; a series of skin-crawling crunches accompanied the motion, "Fid giew gaish faind anyfing?" The creature heaved a large, cylinder-like object up to its mouth before speaking.

"One could say that," Solution answered.

"Oh?" As she closed in, the girl left a trail of evident curiosity in her wake. Her heels clicked against the hard steps beneath her feet, "Wacha mean?" She passed the defiled piece of meat in her hands onto the being behind her, much to the dismay of the short creature.

"We managed to find a large ruin east of the tomb!" Lupus answered in Solution's stead. Unlike her sister, she approached the girl, masked under the shadow of the mausoleum, and met her halfway up its stairs, "It's the perfect place for you to set up a hunting ground, Entoma!" Lupus crouched down to meet Entoma's lightless gaze with her signature smile, "If Lord Ainz allows it, of course."

"That does sound dreamy!" The sleeves of Entoma's traditional Japanese attire moved to cover her mouth.

"Let's not get distracted," Solution said, following closely behind Lupusregina. "Entoma, Shizu, did you two find anything of note?"

"No." Shizu, the girl standing behind Entoma, replied monotone, "The only thing we found was a couple of spider nests. I'll elaborate once we draft our report to Lord Sebas."

Solution's eyes turned toward the item that Shizu unwillingly held; it was a larger-than-average spider leg, "Right."

Entoma Vasilissa Zeta was known for having the largest appetite out of the Pleiade Six Stars; it wasn't unusual for someone to find her feasting on a spare piece of monster flesh. Her gluttony earned her the discomfort of some of the tomb's other inhabitants. Even those above her rank flinched after hearing about her voracious tendencies. Denizens such as Kyouhukou, an Area Guardian under the command of Shalltear Bloodfallen, preferred to stay out of her way. After all, the maid often feasted on his children. Her title as a Direct Creation of the Supreme Ones was the only thing protecting her from retaliation.

"Anyhow, where's Yuri and Narberal?" Lupus asked.

"Yuri mentioned running into some sort of trouble. She said not to worry, as she had everything under control. I'm sure she'll be back soon enough." Entoma addressed before directing her masked eyes toward Lupus' weapons, "What kind of monster did you guys fight? It's blood smells really delectable." The woman's crosier was covered with coats upon coats of blood. The foul odor it emitted filled the noses of those around with a rustic smell.

Under normal circumstances, Lupusregina ensured that her blade remained spotless. After all, what kind of maid would she be if she allowed her master's nose to be swarmed by the unpleasant smell of decay? Luckily, the only ones present were people she trusted to be slothful around. Entoma enjoyed the scent; Solution remained indifferent toward it, and Shizu could adjust her senses as necessary; she could put off cleaning her blade for a little longer. This would all change once her remaining two sisters arrived.

Solution spoke up before Lupusregina could spark trouble. "We ran into a large congregation of Drakes just a few minutes after leaving the tomb's perimeter," she began. "The beasts blocked our way forward, so we disposed of them. The group scattered in all directions. We had no reason to chase after them, so we ignored them once they vanished into the darkness."

"Did you pick up any stragglers on your way back?" Entoma inspected Lupus' weapon further. The liquid was way too fresh.

"On our way back? No. We did find some when we went deeper into the tunnels, though," A light ignited inside Lupus' eyes, "I actually brought home some of their meat! Want a slice?"

"Yup, yup!"

Lupus opened her inventory and chucked one of the slices within toward Entoma. The young Arachnid caught it in midair. The sight reminded her of when she accompanied Aura during the daily feeding of her beasts, "Thank the Supreme Ones. I wasn't sure how I'd react if I were rejected twice in one day."

"Shizu, did Yuri say anything about what sort of 'trouble' she ran into?" Solution asked while Entoma devoured the meat in an instant.

Shizu shook her head.

"Forgive me, I should've stated the motive of my tardiness."

Solution turned around. A pair of obsidian-haired beauties walked past the arch separating Nazarick's graveyard from its outer rings.

"Narberal and I discovered a den of monsters on our way back," Solution watched as the speaker brushed a few drops of blood off of her armor's shoulder plate. "Under normal circumstances, we would have silently passed them. However, there were far too many for us to ignore."

"I'll be damned."

"Hm?" Solution shifted her gaze toward the object of Lupus' attention.

Resting atop the shoulders of Yuri's companion, Narberal, lay a monster. It was none other than one of the Drakes they had encountered during their expedition. The beast was slumped against Narberal's back. It was far too relaxed to be conscious. However, the only sign of a struggle was the large patch of scaleless skin on the creature's abdomen.

Solution put her gloved hands on her waist and said, 'Leave it to Yuri to knock it out in one punch.'

"Is that your new pet, Narberal?" Lupus' face contorted in an effort not to laugh, "If not, why are you carrying that thing around like a stuffed animal?"

"She's the one that told me not to drag it by the tail…" Narberal looked at Yuri, "If it were me, I'd let it crash against the rocks on the ground."

"We thought it crucial to bring Lord Ainz, one of the creatures in the nest. Through this, our lordship is likelier to identify the makings of our surroundings," Yuri gestured for Narberal to drop the creature onto the floor carefully, "Even if it doesn't. It won't hurt to familiarize ourselves with the caves' fauna. I'm sure Lady Aura and Lord Demiurge would be elated to have a test subject at the ready."

"I… should've thought of that," Entoma lowered her head.

"That matters no longer," Yuri walked past her sisters. Her destination was clear: the tomb's center mausoleum, "Now, ladies, let's get going. It'd be distasteful to leave Lord Ainz waiting." Yuri's tied-up hair quickly disappeared beneath the building's oppressing shadow.

"H-Hey, wait for us!" Lupus dashed toward behind her elder sister.

The remaining Pleiades were quick to follow.