Chapter III

In the dead of night, a hooded shadow slipped into E-Rantel's huge graveyard. The jet-black hooded cape combined with the shadow's singular way of moving, keeping its shoulders and hips from bouncing, made it look like a ghost. It nimbly avoided all the magical light sources that had been placed around the graveyard, going in deeper and deeper.

Before long, it came upon a mausoleum. There, the shadow slowly removed its hood. It was a young human woman. Age-wise she was somewhere around a fresh twenty or so. Her face was attractive but in a vaguely feline way. She had ample charm, but there was also something dangerous about her, like she might reveal her true nature as a carnivorous beast at any moment.

"This is the place!" she said playfully, smoothing back her short blond hair before pushing open the stone door. From beneath her cape came a sound like the soft rubbing of metal on metal, akin to the sound chain mail makes.

When she entered the mausoleum, there were no bodies on the stone platforms for laying out corpses, and the ornaments put up when praying for the departures of deceased souls had already been taken down. Still, a cloying smell tingled her nose, as if the rocks had absorbed all the tons of incense.

With a slight wrinkle in her brow, she approached a large platform in the back. "Hmm-hmm-hmm! Let's seeee…" Humming, she pressed one of the surprisingly detailed carvings near its base."

"Something went ker-chk as if catching, and a beat later the platform rumbled to the side to reveal a staircase leading underground.

"I'm coming iiin!" she shouted down the stairs, stretching the final vowel in a carefree way, and began her descent. There was one turn along the way, and at the bottom yawned a huge cavern.

The walls and floor were dirt, but since it was partially man-made, it didn't seem like it would collapse anytime soon. The air wasn't stale, either; it wasn't clear where it was coming in from, but it was fresh.

This place was not part of the graveyard. No, it was something far more sinister.

Strange tapestries hung from the walls and below them burned a number of bright red candles with blood mixed into the wax, sending up the stench of scorched gore as they gave off their dim glow. Among the countless shadows cast by the dancing light were several holes, big enough for humans to pass through, that reeked in the putrid way only lower-tier undead do.

The woman swept her eyes across the room before focusing on one point. "Oi! you, hiding over there! You have a guest!"

The shoulders of a man watching from the shadows of a passage flinched.

"H'lo! I'm here to see Khaj! Is he here?"

The man wasn't sure what to do, and his shoulders flinched again at the sound of more footsteps.

"It's fine. Leave us." The newly arrived man dispatched the hesitant one with just that and showed himself.

He was very thin. His eyes were sunken, and he had so little color in his face it was questionable whether he was even alive, ashen was the perfect word to describe it. Not a single hair could be spotted on his head. In fact, he had neither eyebrows nor lashes and there was so little evidence of anything hairlike on his body that one began to wonder if he had any at all. With those looks, it was impossible to guess his age, but since his skin didn't have wrinkles, he must not have been old. He wore a deep, bloody-red robe and a necklace that was a string of small animal skulls. His skin-and-bones arms ended in hands with yellowed nails that gripped a black staff. He looked more like an undead than a human.

"H'lo, Khaj."

The man frowned at the woman's lighthearted salute. "Stop using that accursed greeting! It's an insult to the proud name of Zurrernorn."

Zurrernorn, a secret society made up of casters who always had their powerful leader in mind and kept death close. They had caused more than a few tragedies and were considered an enemy by the countries in the area.

"Hmm-hmm-hmm!" Her response containing no sign that she would change caused the creases in the man's face to deepen.

"And? What reason could you possibly have for being here? You know I'm pouring energy into the Jewel of Death in this place. If you came to make trouble, I'll take the liberty of dealing with you as I see fit." The man squinted and power began to build up in his staff.

"Aw, Khaj, don't be that way. I even brought you a present!" The woman grinned and dug around under her cape.

There was some jangling, but eventually she found what she was looking for and gleefully pulled it out. It was a circlet. Innumerable tiny gems were delicately attached to a silvery metal thread as thin as spider silk, making it look like a spiderweb covered in water droplets. A large black crystal was set in its center, about where the wearer's forehead would be.

"That's…" The man's eyes opened wide. He'd seen one once from a distance, so there was no way he would mistake it. "… the sign of a shrine princess, a Crown of Wisdom, one of the Theocracy's greatest treasures!"

"Yup! A cute little girl was wearing this, but it wasn't her style, so I did her a favor and stole it. And then—what a surprise! She went nuts! Pooping and peeing all over the place!" The woman cackled.

She was formerly with the Black Scripture, so there was no way she didn't know what would happen when she removed the Crown of Wisdom from its wearer, one of the shrine princesses, who played key roles in the magic ceremonies the Slane Theocracy performed. When it was time for a new one to be crowned, sending the previous princess driven insane by the removal of her crown to be with the gods was the Black Scripture's job.

"I mean, there was nothing I could do. There's no other way to take it! It's the guy who made 'em's fault! Can't believe he got away with that."

There was no way to safely remove a Crown of Wisdom save destroying it. But a Crown of Wisdom transformed a human being into nothing but a font of high-tier magic by sealing off the wearer's self identity; it would be a waste to destroy a sacred treasure like that.

And so, it spawned crazy people.

"Hmph. I can't believe you betrayed the Black Scripture to steal such a piece of junk. If you were gonna do that, you could have at least stolen one of the sacred treasures left by the Six Gods!"

"'Junk'? That's a bit harsh!" She puffed up her cheeks to pout in a contrived way and got sneered at.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure it's junk. Those who can use that thing are less than one in a million. You can't even begin to look for someone to use it unless you're a real nation like the Slane Theocracy."

The Theocracy was the only country in the area that had a registry of inhabitants which is how they were able to find the talented ones, including those who could use the crowns: the sacrifices. Without that kind of system, it would be incredibly difficult to search for them, even for Zurrernorn.

"And how am I supposed to steal a sacred treasure? The Black Scripture's strongest monster, with beyond otherworldly powers, the atavistic son of a bitch said to have blood of the gods in him, is guarding them!"

"That demigod…? Is she really that strong? I've only ever heard of her from you."

"Oh, man, that bitch is on a whole 'nother level! But I guess you wouldn't know because the info is so locked down. Being brainwashed into spilling the beans would mean big trouble, too. I wish there were more info, but they say if word got out, the whole theocracy would get swept up in a war with the remaining true dragonlords and get wiped off the map."

"…I highly doubt that."

The woman's tone suddenly changed. "Yeah, I guess you would if you hadn't seen her power… Anyhow, to get back to my point, Khajit Dale Badantel… We're both one of the twelve leaders. Let's work together."

"Oh? Is this a peek at the true you? One of the Quintias? But leave out the Dale. I don't use that name anymore."

"Only if you cut out the 'one of the Quintias' stuff. Just call me Clementine!"

"…Clementine, then. What's this about working together?"

"There's someone in this city with a wonderful talent, right? I bet he could use this item."

"…Ah, yes, I've heard the rumors. But you sure can kidnap a single person on your own… or not?"

"Well, yeah! But while I'm at it, I want to cause a big commotion. I'm sure someone is running after me…"

"And you want to escape during the confusion? I see…"

"So, I thought, what if I said I'd help out with your ritual? Not a bad offer, right?"

Khajit's eyes narrowed and a superbly evil smile spread across his face. "Splendid, Clementine. In that case, I can perform the Ritual of Death even sooner than planned. I'll do it. You have my full cooperation."

There were two main routes carriages could take heading from E-Rantel to the village of Carne. They could go north and then follow the forest to the east, or they could start off going east and change course to head north. This time, the group chose the former.

Going along the forest made the monster-encounter rate slightly higher, so it was technically the wrong choice for an escort job, but the reason they did it was the monster-hunting work Oshiku and Momon originally agreed to take on with Peter and his crew. There was still the risk of chasing two hares and catching neither, but everyone felt secure in knowing that a powerful warrior and a 3rd-tier magic caster were there, so they chose that route.

In any case, they weren't going deep into the forest just yet, so they wouldn't run into any terribly powerful monsters, just stronger-than-average ones. Since they would be more than able to deal with them, they decided it would be a good chance to verify each team's abilities in actual combat.

They left E-Rantel when the sun was a bit past its peak. Far in the distance they could see a virgin forest so dense it looked like a dark green lump. The thick trees stood straight up, and because their magnificent branches spread out blocking the sun, visibility inside the forest would be poor, and to humans it'd feel as though they were being swallowed up by the darkness. The gaps between trees inspired terrible uneasiness, they seemed almost like gaping maws waiting for prey to jump in.

The party travelling by the woodlands was arranged with the cart in the center. The driver was Nfirea, naturally, and the others proceeded in a formation where Lukrut the ranger was out front, Peter the warrior was on the left flank, the druid Dyne and caster Ninya took the right side, whereas Oshiku and Momon brought up the rear.

They hadn't been terribly cautious, partly because visibility was good, but as they approached the forest Peter spoke in a slightly harder tone. "Momon, Oshiku, we're entering a bit of a dangerous area. I don't think there will be any monsters we can't handle, but be on your guard, just in case."

"Got it."

"Understood."

As he nodded, Momon suddenly thought of something.

In a game, the monsters a player could encounter in a specific area were set, but there was no way that would hold in real life. God only knows what kind of tricky enemies we'll be up against.

He was confident in his own strength after the battle at Carne and based on the info they were able to get out of the Sunlight Scripture members they'd caught. But that was confidence as a caster. At the present moment, Momon could hardly cast any spells because he was wearing a suit of armor. With his specialty removed from the picture, would he be able to perform as the vanguard everyone was counting on him to be? Also, since this was an escort job, it wasn't simply a matter of defeating monsters as he had to add keeping Nfirea alive to the victory conditions. Thinking about all of that would have made him a little anxious if at his side there wasn't Oshiku. As fast and strong as he is, nothing will get past him. I needn't worry about Nfirea.

Still, If push came to shove, he would ditch the armor and handle the situation with magic, but then he would either have to kill his party or use memory manipulation on them, so he didn't want that to happen. It'd be a pain.

He moved his head to look over at his friend, who had fixed his bad eye on the forest, peering into it. Oshiku felt Momon's gaze on his neck and turned around, flashing a big smile. They'd planned it so that he would cast spells higher than tier three, up to tier five, if it became necessary. Hopefully that would take care of things. If it didn't, then Oshiku would use his full speed and if even that wasn't enough, Momon would take off his disguise and get just a little bit serious as Ainz Ooal Gown.

Lukrut seemed to have misunderstood something about the pair's eye contact, even though Momon was still wearing his close helmet, and he called out to them in his jokey way, "We're fiiine. You don't need to worry so much. We won't get ambushed, as long as I'm our eyes and ears, that's not going to happen."

Nfirea must have understood it differently too. He jumped in to say, "We're all right. Actually, from here to around Carne it is the territory of the mighty magical beast known as the Wise King of the Forest, so it's very rare for other monsters to show up."

"The Wise King of the Forest?" Momon recalled what he'd found out in Carne. The monster was supposedly a magical beast who possessed a terrible amount of physical power and could even cast spells. He lived so deep in the forest that there were next to no eyewitness accounts, but tales of his existence had been passed down since long, long ago. One account said he was a silver, four-legged beast with the tail of a snake who had lived for hundreds of years.

I'd like to meet this guy. That story's hard to swallow, but if he's really that old, he might have a crazy amount of wisdom. I mean, he's called the Wise King of the Forest! Capturing him…should help strengthen Nazarick's position. Momon imagined what the magical beast looked like. The Wise King of the Forest…I'm pretty sure there was an animal called something like that in Yggdrasil… people in Carne said it looks like some weird monkey with a tail similar to a snake's…? Yes, I think there was a monster like that... A chimera! Pretty sure that had the face of a monkey, the body of a badger, the limbs of a tiger, and the tail of a snake… I don't know for sure that this'll be the Yggdrasil monster, but if this is anything like those angel summons, there's a good chance.

Chatting like that now and then, the party continued on, the scorching sun at their backs. As they trampled on the grass, some of the juices from the crushed plants stuck to their leather boots, giving off a green smell.

Watching everyone mop their sweat, the demon and the undead were quite thankful for their bodies which had no trouble at all with the sun beating down and would never tire out, even Momon who was wearing heavy armor could go on forever.

Lukrut continued to be the one to break the silence with his perky remarks. "You guys don't have to be on the lookout so much. I got my eyes open!"

Deciding to trust his eyes, and Oshikuru's, Momon walked closer to the cart on which Ninya was quietly sitting, earning an envious glance every now and then.

"I'd like to ask you a few things about magic…" Ninya said that was fine, so he asked a ton of questions. Nfirea looked on, seeming to have taken an interest in their conversation.

The other members of the Swords of Darkness only looked at him to note that Momon was at it again. While Oshiku and Lukrut had often been busy talking about how good they were at having their way with women, Momon had gotten Ninya, Peter and the others to tell him so much that it had become a routine. He learned about a myriad of topics such as magic, martial arts, adventurers, nearby countries, and so on. He had to be careful about what he asked, but everything he heard was extremely useful, and he was confident that his knowledge about the world had increased a great deal.

But it still wasn't enough. Every time he learned something, it seemed the things he needed to know multiplied. That was especially the case with magic. He was surprised by how different things were in a world based on magic.

One thing that was especially affected was the level of civilization. It appeared to be something like the Middle Ages, when in fact it was probably closer to premodern or in some cases nearly modern. Supporting this level of technology was magic.

Once Momon realized that, he gave up thinking too hard about the technology progress. For people like him and his friend, living in a world with advanced scientific technology, it was impossible to think too deeply about this world with its entirely different system. They even had magic to produce spices like salt and sugar, as well as magic to return nutritive value to the soil to avoid damaging it by replanting the same crops over and over.

On top of that, he wasn't sure if it was true or false, but he'd heard the ocean wasn't salty: that was how far this world departed from his own common sense.

How had long been cautiously satisfying his curiosity when, suddenly, he was messaged by Oshiku they'd soon have company, but that the enemy was ridiculously weak so they needn't worry about it.

Not long after, the official sentry noticed them too.

"Something's coming," Lukrut announced abruptly with palpable tension in his voice. The silliness from the tone he used before had disappeared. This was the voice of an experienced pro adventurer. Everyone immediately readied their weapons in the direction Lukrut was looking.

"Where is it?"

"There. Right there." Lukrut pointed in response to Peter's question to a part of the giant forest. Since it was shaded by trees, it was difficult to see inside, and there seemed to be no sign of anything in there. Even so, no one doubted him.

"It'd be pushing it to just rush in there, so unless it comes out of the woods, let's ignore it."

"Well, it's probably smart to follow our plan and have Nfirea move back."

While they were talking, the forest stirred and the monsters slowly came into view. There were eighteen small creatures about as tall as children. Surrounding them were six large ones.

The smaller ones were subhumans called goblins. They had flattened noses, and two little fangs stuck up out of their mouths, which seemed almost like big rips in their squashed faces. Their skin was light brown. Their messy, oily clumps of grimy hair were black. It was hard to tell if their raggedy dark brown clothing was dyed or just dirty. Over it, they wore animal hides in place of armor. Each carried a wooden club in one hand and a small shield in the other. They were like a crossbreed between a human and an ape, with a handful of viciousness on top.

Each of the fewer, larger monsters stood around 3 m tall. With their jaws jutting way forward, their faces were imbecility incarnate. Their arms bulging with muscles brought to mind large trees, and their hands nearly reached the ground, although their stooped backs helped. They carried clubs that looked like they had ripped them straight off a tree and wore untanned animal skins around their waists. Their horrid stench seemed to waft all the way to where the adventurers were. Their warty skin was darkish brown and their pecs and abs were built. From the look of them, they seemed quite strong, and the overall impression they made was of big, hairless chimpanzees with a warped twist. These monsters were of the subhuman race known as ogres.

Almost all of them were carrying bags that looked to be made of rags. They must have been migrating some distance.

The monsters looked over the party of adventurers and then began stepping out onto the grass. They were still some distance away, but the hostile looks on their ugly faces could be read easily enough.

"…There are quite a lot of them, huh? We're not going to be able to avoid a fight at this rate."

"Yeah, goblins and ogres tend to go on the attack when they see they outnumber their opponents. Or rather, they're too stupid to evaluate their opponent's strength on anything besides numbers, ah, what a pain."

The newcomers understood the situation, and things had definitely sunk in, but Momon still cocked his head slightly at how different from a game it felt. The goblins and ogres all had individualized features, whether it be their height or the darkness of their skin. In other words, they weren't all identical. That made him feel like he was facing twenty-four unfamiliar monsters.

"Reality is no game," he lamented in a voice none but Oshiku could hear. He chuckled while his best friend was seized by the feeling he used to get when hurtling into a new area without reading a strategy guide and clashing with monsters he'd never heard of; it reminded him of the things he'd realized during the battle of Carne.

"So, Momon, Oshiku."

"…Oh, what is it?"

"We said we'd have you take half of them, so how would you like to divide them up?"

"We can't just split into our two teams and kill them as they come?"

"That'll get complicated if they all bunch up on one team. Oshiku, is it possible for you to take out all the goblins at once with an area-of-effect spell like Fireball?"

Where the hell will all the fun be then? And who told them I'm a caster specialised in magic attack? I am not! Well, I do have Fireball, but it wouldn't be fun to use it.

"I can't use Fireball. Fly and Haste are the only 3rd tier spells I can cast. But don't worry, the three swords I'm carrying are not just for show. Momon-san might be the strong one, but I'm the fast one. If necessary, I can cut off an ogre's limbs before he can notice it. So I'll stay at the rear to protect Nfirea and Ninya, plus I'll buff everyone with my bard skills. If anyone'll be in trouble, I'll jump in."

So it's that kind of setup, Ainz murmured in his head, approving.

Even if they were a bit disappointed by Oshiku turned out not being an actual big wizard, they did not complain.

Still, they looked a little worried.

"The goblins are not a problem, but we'd have to have someone preventing all those Ogres from charging…"

"Oh, I'll take care of that, Peter. I'd be all talk if I had trouble with some ogres. I'll show you how easy it is to butcher these guys."

The Swords of Darkness members understood what Momon, in a voice brimming with confidence just like Oshiku's, was saying and were felt they could trust them both.

"Got it. That said, we shouldn't be allowing the enemy to charge, either. We'll back you up as much as we can."

"Um, do you need any support magic?"

"Oh, I'll be fine with Oshiku's bard buffs. You should support your teammates."

"Okay, I'll do that."

"Everyone, if we engage here, we're close to the forest, so there's a chance they'll run away."

"Then let's do what we always do! We'll draw them out just like yankin' a turtle's head out of its shell!"

"Oh, that's a fine plan. So Momon is blocking the ogres' charge, but how should we deal with the ones who get by, Peter?"

"I'll trap the ogres with the martial art Fortress. Dyne, you deal with any goblins that slip through. Ninya, cast defensive magic on me. After that, although it might not be necessary, we'll rely on the swords or magic of Oshiku.

Ninya, focus on using attack magic against those on our blind sides. Lukrut, pick off any goblins you can. If any ogres get by, get in their way. In that case, Ninya, help him."

Everyone took Peter's orders simply by exchanging firm nods. The battle plan was coming together quite smoothly. They were really on the same wavelength.

While Oshiku ignored them as the enemy was so weak, the impressed Momon couldn't help but sigh as he remembered his days in Yggdrasil. He and his old guildmates had also been on the very same wavelength when they went out grinding together. It hadn't been the same with Oshikuru, who just cut any monster until it dropped dead while Momonga had fun deciding what spells to cast. With a full party of "normal" players, unlike the pretty overpowered Demon Samurai, it was different. Decoy, pull, block, select targets, the kind of team play that was done when all members knew and took advantage of one another's abilities.

Maybe Ainz was biased, but he didn't think chemistry like that was so easy to create; that said, he caught a glimpse of it in the Swords of Darkness, even if they weren't as in sync as his old friends.

"Momon, Oshiku, do you need any backup from us?"

"No, that won't be necessary. We're fine as the two of us."

"You're… really confident, huh?"

Ainz could sense some worry in Peter's tone. Are you really going to be all right? If the block was easily broken, they all were in danger of being wiped out one by one. He was uneasy about that.

They weren't playing a game, lives would be taken.

"You'll understand once we get started." With that as his only response, Ainz cut the conversation short. "If your team is ready to go, we can start the fight."

Lukrut drew his composite longbow. The creaking of the bowstring stopped, and then came the bing of it slicing through the air. The loosed arrow flew straight across the grass and landed about 5 m from the goblins, who were on the move. They had put their shields up and were slowly closing the distance, but in response to Lukrut's sudden attack, they jeered. They were laughing at him because he missed. Of course, they couldn't hit a target more than 50 m away, either, but they had conveniently forgotten that.

Then, the fact that they had been attacked and the overwhelming imbalance in respective numbers incited their inherent violence, so they all screamed and ran full speed, unthinking, toward Lukrut. The ogres also charged, after a short delay.

Having lost themselves in their thirst for blood, they had no formation and didn't even take the defensive measure of keeping their shields up. There was nothing left inside their heads.

Noticing as much, Lukrut cracked a smile. "Heh."

The distance separating them was a little over 30 m when he took his next shot. This one didn't miss, but went through a goblin's head. It was the one farthest to the rear; it tottered a few more steps forward before crumpling to the ground, dead.

The distance was closing before Lukrut's eyes, but his hand nocking the next arrow showed no sign of nervousness; even if they got right on top of him, he knew he had a friend nearby who would protect him.

"Reinforce Armor!" With the sound of Ninya casting a defensive spell behind him, Lukrut loosed another arrow.

At the same time, a powerful simphony coming from an unknown musical instrument filled the air and in a matter of seconds all the adventurers felt all their bodies tingling with extra strength and determination.

Another shot at 20 m. Another pierced head, another goblin tumbling to the ground. Then Peter and Dyne started to move.

The goblins were nimble, but the ogres took larger steps, so there wasn't much of a pace gap between the two groups. That said, they were running over about 50 m of grass, so the ogres with their more powerful legs were out front and the goblins followed. Each group was spread out to some extent, making it difficult to capture very many of them in an area-of-effect spell.

But that was fine. Dyne's first job was to trap an ogre.

"Twine Plant!" When he cast the spell, the grass under one ogre's feet began to flail like a whip and twist around them. Restrained by plants tough as chains, the ogre began to get frustrated, and its roar resounded across the plain.

Into this scene at a leisurely pace walked Momon, followed by Oshiku's eues. No one, looking at the vanguard's gait, would imagine he was headed into a fight against charging monsters. It looked more like he was taking a stroll through the meadow than navigating a combat zone.

As the nearest ogre was getting closer, Momon crossed his hands over opposite shoulders to clutch the hilts of his swords. Then the blades slowly appeared in two great, huge arcs.

Every one of the Swords of Darkness gasped at the dazzling spectacle.

The 1.70 m swords Momon gripped were so splendid they seemed like they might have more value as works of art than as weapons. The keen blades coldly gleamed, their tips spreading into fan shapes and their grooves engraved with a pattern resembling two intertwining snakes. They were weapons a hero would wield, and Momon had one in each hand. Seeing him like that caused them to gasp again. If the previous gasp had been in admiration, this time they were knocked completely speechless.

Swords get heavier the longer they are, it's only natural. No matter what kind of spell was cast on to lighten the load, swinging these around would have been no easy feat. After traveling with Ainz for a short time, they understood he was exceptionally strong, but the common sense they'd amassed up till then didn't allow for the sight of him holding a great sword in each hand so comfortably.

But…

He swung them around into a fighting stance so easily they might have been twigs. He cut quite a majestic figure. "Momon…you're incredible…," Peter gasped, representative of his group's shock. As a warrior himself, he'd been instantly taught what kind of strength was possible, and it dawned on him how long he would have to train to achieve it. He'd had the vague notion that he and Ainz were on different levels, but having conclusive proof before his eyes gave him shivers that started in his toes.

Even goblins, with their lesser intelligence, seemed to realize they should be afraid. Their recklessly charging feet slowed, and they changed course to take a longer way around to Peter and the others. Only the ogres continued to barrel toward Momon, too dim-witted to second-guess their strength.

As the distance closed, they raised their weapons. No matter how long Momon's swords were, the ogres were still huge and had better range with their equally huge clubs. It looked like the ogres would get the first attack, but then Momon rushed at them.

He was like a hurricane. Then, in an even faster flash of metal, the sword in his right hand flew through the air as if it were cutting space itself.

The attack was too magnificent. Regardless of the fact that they hadn't even been cut, everyone watching felt the sudden presence of death right beside them, so much so that every hair on their bodies stood on end.

It was over in that single swing.

Momon targeted a new ogre, leaving the one in front of him. As if waiting for him to move away, the upper body of the now stock-still first ogre slipped to the ground, leaving the lower body standing. The spray of blood, slop of innards, and diffusion of an awful stench throughout the area were the signs that this was neither a dream nor an illusion.

He'd cut the monster in two with a single diagonal stroke.

Although they were in the middle of a battle, both friends and foes froze to observe the riveting scene as if time had stopped. This time, even Oshiku looked approvingly at his friend: knowing he was no warrior, it had been a very nice hit.

A deadly blow, one that would slice a monster as meaty as an ogre in half.

A "whoa" escaped someone's lips. The battlefield had fallen so silent that everyone heard it.

"…I can't believe it. He must be a mythril plate or maybe orichalcum… Could he be adamantite?"

To cut an opponent in two—it wasn't an impossible move, per se. Someone who trained up a very targeted set of skills or who had a powerful magical weapon could probably pull it off. But to hold a gigantic, two-handed great sword in one hand and give it enough momentum to cut someone in half would be difficult even if its edge was extremely sharp. That was common sense. A two-handed sword was used with two hands and would rely on mass and centrifugal force to cut, they weren't at all supposed to be about slicing and dicing with physical strength.

So the only way to explain what Momon had just done was to conclude that his sword was endowed with incomparable magic, that he had more strength in one arm than most warriors had in two, or both.

The ogres that had stopped in their tracks, shocked by the scene in front of them, began to backpedal with fear written on their faces. Momon advanced one step to fill in the distance.

"What's the matter? Not going to attack?" His quiet, casual voice floated over the battlefield.

Even just that question scared the ogres as they'd just seen how overwhelming the gap in strength was between Momon and them.

The Dark Warrior moved in on a second ogre so quickly it was hard to believe he was wearing full plate armor.

"Uooogh!" The ogre raised a hoarse voice in what could have been either a shriek or a battle cry as it readied its club against Momon, but anyone would have recognized it was moving too slowly.

As he closed in, the great sword in his left hand moved as if he were going to lightly brush the ogre away. Its upper body went tumbling through the air to land somewhere completely different from its lower body.

He'd cut the monster in two with a single horizontal slice.

"Momon… Are you a monster?"

Witnessing another riveting scene, nobody had any objections to what Dyne had said.

"Okay, and as for the rest…" Ainz stepped forward, and the other ogres, ugly faces frozen in fear, moved farther back.

The goblins that had taken a large detour to the side got around and attacked Peter and the others. The Swords of Darkness had lost themselves in amazement but now had to spring into action.

Peter readied his broadsword and large shield and ran to meet the fourteen-plus goblins. The head of the one out in front went spinning off after a lunging swipe. Dodging the fountain of blood, Peter closed in on the rest of the goblins.

"Eat this!" A goblin bared its yellowed teeth as its foul, throaty scream filled the air. Peter easily took a goblin club strike with his shield. The hit that came from the side got blocked and repelled with a loud crack thanks to the magic reinforcing his armor.

"Magic Arrow!" Two glowing shots of magic nailed the goblin trying to hit Peter from behind, and it collapsed like a marionette whose strings had been cut.

Half of the goblins surrounding Peter ran at Dyne and Lukrut as they managed to cover Ninya and Oshiku. Lukrut had tossed aside his composite longbow and whipped out a short sword. The fight between Lukrut and Dyne and seven goblins was about evenly matched. If they paced themselves, they could probably beat them one by one, but it would take a while. Lukrut had taken a club to one arm and was tolerating the pain with an obvious grimace as he stabbed his short sword into a gap in a goblin's leather armor. Dyne had taken a bit of a beating, and although his movements had become somewhat sluggish, it didn't seem like any of his wounds were too critical.

However, Oshiku gave a little help to the Swords of Darkness casting a couple [Magic Arrow] and an [Acid Arrow] at the goblins.

On the other hand Ninya, keeping a sharp eye on the situation, began to conserve magic. There was one ogre immobilized with a spell. If circumstances called for it, he would have to take it on.

Meanwhile, Peter was spending equal time on offense and defense against seven goblins.

The goblins' violence didn't overwhelm the adventurers, though, because there was hesitation in their attacks. Their morale had dropped significantly after witnessing Momon's amazing one-hit kills, and they hadn't made up their minds yet if they should fight or flee.

Then, as if to crush their morale further, one of the Dark Warrior's swords swung in a huge arc. No one could hear anything but the sound of it slicing through the air and then something heavy falling to the ground, two things, actually.

As everyone expected, the number of ogre corpses had increased. Now the only ogres remaining were the one still trapped in the grass and the one cowering before Ainz.

Ainz's helmet moved to confront the final ogre. Perhaps because it had felt the gaze of Ainz's eyes from deep within the thin slit of his helmet, it emitted a bizarre groan and attempted to make a run for it, dropping the club and racing back toward the forest faster than it had exited from it. But there was no way it would be allowed to get away.

"My turn!" Oshiku's excited tone of voice rang out. "Haste!"

While the cry was only a shout and not the activation of a spell, Oshiku leaped forward at a speed such that the other adventurers were absolutely shocked. That was the samurai at about 20% of his basic speed. Well, I'm still visible to them. But it seems like I might have to tone it down a little bit unless I pretend to cast [Haste] every time I attack, he thought as they stared at him through the air.

Then he turned to the ogre he was now upon and jumped above him, cutting the head off in a flash of metal so fast nobody saw what the sword looked like.

Still unsatisfied, he went ahead to the other ogre, which had just broken free from the plants' tangle.

Slashing with two swords, Oshiku circled around the big monster as fast as a lightning bolt before coming back without even glancing at it. A little afterwards, all the ogre's limbs fell to the ground. It horribly screamed while bleeding out to certain death. That was all it took to kill two huge ogres.

"Let's get outta here!"

"Run away! Run away!" The goblins that had been watching these events unfold as if in a trance called for a retreat and went to flee, but as might be expected, Peter and his crew moved faster. The demoralized goblins were not so tough anymore.

They were taken care of one after another in smooth succession. Ninya figured he didn't need to conserve magic any longer and added his powers to the fray. The goblins were killed in the blink of an eye.

Amid the reek of the dead bodies, Dyne tended to Lukrut's and Peter's wounds with Light Healing, while Ninya, with nothing to do, went around slicing the ears off the goblins with a dagger.

By turning those in to the guild, they would be compensated per monster. Of course, it wasn't always ears. A specific part was required from each kind of monster. That said, for subhumans like goblins and ogres, it was usually ears, even if some weirdos liked to chop offother pieces of meat.

As he was removing the ears with a practiced hand, he saw that Momon seemed to be searching the ground nearby where the ogres had fallen.

"Are you looking for something?"

Momon looked up to respond to Ninya's question. "Yeah, just seeing if there are any drop—"

Oshiku cut him off: "He means if they got any treasure, even if it's highly unlikely."

"Oh yeah, it would be great if ogres carried treasure around," said Ninya laughing, adeptly clipping off ogre ears.

He didn't notice the quick slap Oshiku had given to the Dark Warrior.

"But wow, Momon. I knew you had confidence in your abilities, but I didn't realize how strong you really were. And you, Oshiku, are faster than the wind!"

In response to Ninya's comments, the other three who were almost finished healing chimed in with more praise.

"You two were amazing! And as a warrior, I hope I can be as awesome as you someday, Momon!"

"How can you be so fast, Oshiku?!"

"I had figured you were rich, but where are those fantastic swords from? I don't think I've ever seen more expensive-looking swords."

"Now I see that what you were saying at the guild was for real. You two might be as strong as the oft-rumored-about strongest warrior in the kingdom. I'm seriously impressed."

Oshiku looked smug, but Momon demurred. "Nah, it just happened to work out."

"'Just happened to work out'…?" Peter smiled wryly. "…Really, the way you fought reminded me there's always someone stronger... and another one always faster!"

"I know you guys will get to the point where you can take care of small fries like that easily, too." Everyone's smiles got wryer.

Peter and his friends were working hard at getting stronger. And they didn't waste a copper of their rewards, only spending on things that would make them stronger. That's why they'd been able to work so well together so far, but even reflecting on how far they'd come, they didn't imagine they'd ever be able to reach level. To Swords of Darkness, those two's level was the furthest of extremes, which only a handful of people were allowed to access.

These guys they were traveling with would probably go on to be heroes whose names would soon be known by all. Some of the great ones who could stand at the pinnacle of adventuring.

Momon the incarnation of strength, Oshiku the incarnation of speed.

That was all they could think of.