Chapter 9
Hehehe, I'm so glad I had 5 job class levels still free right for this! Ambushing a World Disaster Class is hard, but in a battle like this, surprise AoE attacks are bound to eliminate all kinds of unprepared people!
Well, it's not like this was the reason why I came here, but this is great! Now I'm both a mighty warrior and a deadly caster! As soon as I'm done dealing with this bunch of idiots, I'll look into the best possible way to perfectly complete my avatar!
What are these cunts waiting for, though? They should be either fighting or fleeing… Or did they really believe my last joke?
Oshikuru burst out laughing.
"Oi, oi, you guys are killing me. Of course I was just kidding. I am a man of my word, I shall keep it no matter what. Momonga, please fall back to Nazarick with your guildmates. Now it's my turn to have some fun out here…"
The Olympians paled as expected, while most of the AOG players seemed relieved. Not all of them, though.
"How dare you order us around! It's all your fault if these guys attacked us! You selfish sonofabitch messed with us and now you show up thinking we should thank you?! Have you no shame? If they don't kill you, we will! I've had enough of…"
"Shut up, Touch Me. Not now!"
The paladin turned around, shocked by his old friend. Momonga had never used such harsh words against him, or any guild member actually.
"Let's retreat. And thank you, Oshikuru-dono. I apologise for… how badly have we all treated you."
That said, he quickly fled, immediately followed by all his companions but Touch Me, who angrily stared at the only two players who had ever managed to defeat him.
"This changes nothing, you weirdo! I hope you two kill each other. If not, I'll take care of the one who survives!" Then he got away without looking back.
The Olympian Hit Squad mercilessly turned around to hit him from behind, but they were stopped in their tracks. "Let the heteromorphs flee in their shithole, we'll get to them later. We have something more important to deal with right now!"
Zeus Enalios, seemingly returned to his usual absolute confidence, moved a stern gaze towards the samurai while his associates slowly took position to be ready for a fight.
"I was wondering were you've been all this time, great samurai. Don't tell me you seriously want to help the inhuman scum, especially after they insulted you!"
No reaction whatsoever came from Oshikuru, his arms still on Infinity Edge.
Of course you want a piece of the cake, jerk. Let's cut to the chase, I'll make you an offer you can't possibly refuse. "Come to our side and I promise Nazarick will be yours once we've conquered it, together with 10% of all its loot, and you can claim the best item too."
"Such a generous offer, Zeus-dono. I'm glad you acknowledge my superiority and try to bribe me, but I must decline. As I already said, I promised I'd protect Ainz Ooal Gown and that's what I'm going to do."
The players in front of him held their weapons tighter, ready to attack.
"However!"
Everyone relaxed a little.
"Since you seem to have become more reasonable than last time we met, I'll allow you and your friends to retreat without taking your lives. Promise never to come back here with hostile intentions and I'll let you go."
Zeus' stern face turned into a surprised and then mocking expression until he let out a deep laugh.
"Are you being serious right now? you may be the most powerful individual fighter in the game, but you have no chance against all of us together. Not to mention, I've grown much stronger since our last match… you should choose your next words carefully, samurai, for they might be the last you speak in this place."
"Oh, what a loser! And I thought you had become more mature… our battle ended without you landing a single blow!"
"Well, I'd be happy to have a rematch, but I'm afraid…" I would lose again. You may be despicable, but nobody's as fast as you "… There's no time now. Why don't you look behind you?"
"Really? As if I could fall for the oldest trick in the world!"
"Seriously, I'm your last problem now. Don't you feel the ground shaking?"
"Oh, you meant those little shits. Don't worry, they won't be bothering us for quite a while. [Release All Magic Seals]!"
And behind him, a series of spells literally unleashed hell.
Carefully and precisely designed were the magic traps placed on the battlefield by Oshikuru and a number of NPCs to create a protective ring around Nazarick without letting its denizens notice. It took no less than three days, after learning the raid plan by the far too talkative Luna Chaser, who answered all questions from someone she thought to be a friend but actually was the demon samurai in disguise.
The first to activate were the "stop phase" magic seals.
[Widen Maximise Magic: Mass resist weakening]. [Widen Maximise Magic: Temporal Stasis]. [Triplet Maximise Magic: Delay Teleportation]. [Widen Maximise Magic: Dimensional Lock]. [Triplet Maximise magic: Mass slow]. [Widen Maximise Magic: Mass Hold Species]. [Triplet Maximise Magic: No-fly-zone]. [Widen Maximise Magic: Energy drain]. [Triplet Maximise Magic: Insanity]. With 7 magic seals for each of these spells, a full blockade surrounded the land of Nazarick.
With hundreds of the incoming players stopped or slowed down, the "hit phase" magic seals went off, starting with dozens of [Triplet Maximise Magic: Drifting Master Mine] and [Triplet Maximise Magic: Explosive Land Mine], immediately followed in sequence by several [Triplet Maximise Magic: Crack to Hell] through which fell many players tossed around by the wave of the previous two spells. Across the sky, to make sure even flying players couldn't make it through, appeared lots of [Widen Maximise Magic: Chain Dragon Lightning] and [Widen Maximise Magic: Gravity Maelstrom], together with a dozen [Triplet Maximise Magic: Sharks Cyclone] and countless [Widen Maximise Magic: Black Hole]. Three large so far safe areas were respectively blasted by couples of [Widen Maximise Magic: Napalm], [Widen Maximise Magic: Vermilion Nova] and [Widen Maximise Magic: Hellish Blast].
A smart player who had found a little safe spot tried to use his Shooting Star Ring, but to no avail. His desire was denied by the very same power held by Oshikuru who set it to be triggered beforehand. While the two Wish-Upon-A-Star countered each other, an additional magic seal was released. A combo of [Triplet Maximise Magic: Reality Slash], [Death] and [True Death] aimed at the man who tried to stop the magic bombardment, erasing him from existence.
Those who escaped ahead, actually lots of players, entered another killzone. There they had to jump between [Widen Magic: Wave of Pain], [Widen Magic: Hell Flame], [Widen Magic: Negative Burst], [Widen Magic: Cry of the banshee] and [Widen Magic: Ray of Negative Energy]. Relentless, most of the still numerous survivors went forward, through the occasional [Triplet Maximise Magic: Blasphemy] [Triplet Maximise Magic: Greater Word of Curse] [Triplet Maximise Magic: Cursed Word Kill]. On the other hand, some thought it was always getting worse to follow the directions pointed by the waves of spells and fell back to attack later. Indeed, on those who kept going forth rained down three [Widen Magic:Hellstorm] and three [Widen Magic: Hellish Blast] on each cardinal point around Nazarick.
However, those were the last to be triggered before in front of all the players running and flying towards the Great Tomb appeared the "Hold phase".
It was an impressive display of summons: over the ground turned into hell by a [Widen Maximise Magic: Hell Summoning] and in the sky now haughtily lit by [Widen Maximise Magic: Flames of Gehenna], were unleashed countless terrifying creatures from a [Pandemonium] and an [Armageddon-Evil], behind which appeared a high double layered barrier of [Wall of Hell] and [Hellfire Wall] defended by a dozen [Fiend Army]. To add quality to quantitity, were released 6 magic seals for [Summon Fiend 6th], 7 [7th tier Fiend summoning], 8 [Summon Fiend 8th], and 9 [9th tier Fiend Summoning].
It was the last barrage of sorceries cast by Oshikuru and his NPCs, which finally revealed themselves in the hot hair above the burning barriers. They were Eight Evil Lords: Sloth, Pride, Greed, Envy, Wrath, Lust, Gluttony and the new one, promoted by Oshikuru himself, Ambition, now Prince of Hell under its one and only King.
While his loyal demons guided the armies of death to hold off hundreds of angry players, Oshikuru was in a heated battle against the full Olympian Hit Squad, reached by four bloodthirsty Mercenary Magicians, ten vengeful Seraphims and the two World Champions Lightside and 1piço, who had made it through the "protection ring". Actually, many others had joined the clash against Oshikuru, but had fallen by the time the demonic forces emerged from the burning ground. Thanks to his first [Grand Catastrophe] Oshikuru had indeed gotten rid of 37 adversaries including WC Szadek, and the last defences of many more, who were then quickly dealt with by the unofficial Yggdrasil Champion.
Now though, the samurai's mana was almost entirely gone. But even then, fighting with items and weapons only, he seemed fully capable of fighting against 26 min-maxed level 100 players. Thanks to his outstanding speed, Oshikuru managed to dodge most blows, and those he received were almost completely nullified by the Devourer's Dragonscale. Its passive [Draconic Vitality] boosted all stats by a mere +10%, but was almost invulnerable granting total immunity against fire damage, spells up to 7th tier and blows from items below Legacy Class. And even those above that level were not really useful, save world items, world champion items, and some of the most powerful among the divine class. Not that he was on the defensive: alone against some of the best players in Yggdrasil, that would be suicidal. Instead, he zapped between or far from them, constantly changing his weapons to make it impossible for the enemy to know what to expect from him.
After realising he was luring individuals away from the others to one-shot isolated ones, the allied players split back into their respective groups to watch each other's back while trying to surround Oshikuru, though it seemed impossible.
A flying katana perpetually hovered, automatically covering the samurai's blindside, while the two he was wielding moved so fast they resembled a lightning while slicing up one man after the other. A kodachi severely injured one who had seemed able to sneak up on Oshikuru, who also used powerful gauntlets to punch through any encirclement. Whenever he released a skill, somebody was unexpectedly hit; as soon as the odachi appeared in his hand, people started backing off after realising there was nothing it couldn't cut.
Zeus' grip on his mighty trident hardened as he grit his teeth. Still, he's bound to make a serious mistake sooner or later against so many powerful players. I still have my best move, and as soon as someone manages to block him for half a second, I'll have him drop dead!
Suddenly, he had his chance when Sunlight and 1piço forced Oshikuru in close combat, while Seraphims covered the sky right above and the left, with Mercenary Magicians blocking the right side and his own squad was behind the hateful enemy. Without even thinking about it, Zeus immediately charged his trident and unleashed [World Break] asap. Incapable of getting away from there, Oshikuru felt it coming and turned around, spreading his arms around to take the full golden energy blast head on. The others zapped away just in time not to get damaged by the overpowered move, whose leftovers were enough to make a fuming, long ditch in the ground.
"The watchdog is finally dead. Now the sheep are no longer safe!" Proclaimed the ominous voice of the one who had dealt the deadly blow.
His companions cheered, while their allies slightly complained as that powerful move had almost pulverised them too.
While the friendly banter was coming to an end, a wicked laugh came from below the charred surface. A huge black fist emerged from the rubble, followed by one more, another, one more, another, one more, another, and one more again…
"What the hell!"
"Exactly.
Hell.
I'm its king!"
If those virtual players could sweat, they would have been drenched in that moment.
Even Zeus' almighty trident trembled in his now shaky hands. That's Oshikuru's voice. But how…
The ground exploded as a being of pure malvagity, truly with the lowest karma level ever seen at -999, made its gruesome appearance.
"Congratulations, this is the second time a player manages to make me show my much stronger dark side. Though Touch Me was alone… or almost alone at least. Curious, both times it was a World Break, and it was on Nazarick's doorstep. I'm starting to think this place is cursed for me. Yohohoho!"
The air tensed while all silently invoked deities who couldn't possibly help them. Indeed the one called like a god exploded: "How did you not die?!"
"Tch, tch, tch. Careful, screaming at the top of your lungs while being bare chested all day long… perfect combination to catch a cold. Want a blanky, little Zeus?"
"Don't underestimate me, demon! Now I see why you side with AOG, you're a monster just like them! But it matters not. I just brought you down, and I'll do it again until you won't be able to get up anymore!"
"Sorry, little Zeus, but you can't kill me if you're dead already!"
He seemingly disappeared, only to punch the tattooed muscle-head half a km away, getting on his crushing landing point before Zeus himself. The leader of the alliance was cut countless times and his head rolled. Before he could even notice being dead, one word left his mouth, but it was unheard by his friends.
"Nigero…"
The Olympian Hit Squad, noticing its boss had been sliced in several pieces, angrily jumped at Oshikuru.
No longer a samurai, but as darkness incarnated he stood up, seemingly uncaring.
Two of his eight clawed hands brought a lucid flute to his lips as the Arch Devil started to play some music, his footfalls now rhythmic yet as light as a feather, while the low sound was soon accompanied by a much louder, cheerful shamisen held by two more hands, and a pair of drums' DUN DUN DUN joined in. A once famous, catchy simphony formed and travelled to the troops of Oshikuru beyond the deadly flames of hell. To say the almost spent demonic army was revitalised would be quite the understatement, for the ancient anthem seemed to bring them a frenzy of unlimited power. Many players about to break through were tore to pieces by the devilish beings, boosted so much they seemed to have levelled up.
In all of this, their demonic summoner was humming as he played the wordless yet inspiring song. Oshikuru happily danced around, following the rhythm and dodging countless blows from twenty five wrathful enemies.
1Piço seemed closed in on him and raised a overhead strike while yelling. "How dare you desecrate this liberation anthem to empower a demonic army?! Die, you piece of shit!"
But Oshikuru still had two arms free to fight. Cutter II blocked and Cutter I hit deep, terminating 1Piço's life while the song also came to an end. "It is you who should be ashamed. This was to liberate the whole world so that all races could freely live together. Begone, foul human suprematist ! And he did disappear in a wave of colourful pixels.
Soon others charged the King of Hell, but instead of music instruments his eight hands now held weapons, including a so far unseen one.
The TOTGUSS, a divine class slingshot, started to spread panic among the enemy ranks as Oshikuru unexpectedly turned into a deadly sniper, with magical bullets unleashing the powerful spell sealed inside upon impact with the target. While its offensive powers were astonishing and countless, it also had quite the opposite effect on defensive stats, lowering them by 75% for as long as it was being held.
Still, it allowed him to blow a couple heads off.
Anyway, to make sure he was covered, Oshikuru activated a skill of the King Kong Gauntlets, summoning twenty five meat shields in the form of angry gorillas. They wouldn't last long, but it finally gave him a brief moment to breath and glance at the fight by the hellgrounds.
Shit, even with the spellsong it won't hold for more than a few minutes. And I still see plenty of human players… some eight hundreds to say the least… even if I still have a couple tricks to lower their numbers, I'm sure there are still some powerful people among the fodder. Even if I'll fight to death, which I certainly won't now that I have the World Disaster Class, I'd kill three hundred more at the very best… still too many for Ainz Ooal Gown to deal with, I fear. Damn, has it all been for nothing?
But he wouldn't give up.
An enemy who got too close was punched into the ground by a Tidal Gauntlet, frozen by the Cane Sword and finished by a sing slash with Infinity Edge.
I need to contact AOG, but it seems they can't stand me, even if I'm out here fighting for them! Ungrateful moth… wait, that Momonga actually apologised and he's always seemed ready to welcome me unlike the rest of'em, hopefully he'll listen to me.
[Message to: Ainz Ooal Gown Guildmaster]
…
…
"Ancient one, is this you? Have you found something useful in the library besides a book to bonk on…"
"Momonga-dono, this is Oshikuru. Please listen to me, I don't have much time. I've killed most of the best among the assailants and a large bunch of the shittiest ones, but there's still hundreds of them and soon my NPCs won't be able to hold'em off anymore. Have you prepared some good enough traps down there?"
…
While waiting for a reply, Oshikuru released the TOTGUSS' active skill [Counter Magic Projectile] and shot at the incoming mana bullet, erasing it.
…
"Oi, Momonga, you still there?"
"… Ah, yeah, sorry, you caught me off guard… well, we're watching the battle up there and I can't tell you how fucking cool you were when you killed Zeus and started playing music, Wish was laughing so much he almost killed himself! Anyway, you needn't die out there. You see, we had to play desperate in front of our enemies, but we actually have several layers of defensive measures which will get rid of any number of attackers, so… well, if you want to keep killing as many of them as you can, especially the last World Champion still standing, that's great, one can never be too sure.
In the meantime, Cutter II revealed the not well detailed insides of a human player's neck.
But when you're at your limit just go, there's no point in dying: you already proved your worth in front of everyone, killing… well, with this one you just beheaded it's 465 and it's safe to say nobody has ever done that all by himself in a single battle in the history of Yggdrasil… so really, thanks for everything, especially covering our retreat to Nazarick and killing their leader!
Still…
I wish I could tell you I don't care what the others will say and grant you to safely come down here to rest and rightfully join us since all what you've done, but I fear only a few of my friends would agree with me, most of them hope you die soon, and some like Touch actually want to kill you with their own hands, so…"
"Don't worry, I get it. Besides, I already imagined it would be like that. Can I just ask you one last question before I get back to focus on not dying?"
"Please go ahead, be careful though, I can't have you dying on me!"
"Be honest. Would you really let me join Ainz Ooal Gown, if you could? And is there really anyone else in the guild who'd like that?"
…
"Uh, sincerely I don't know about the others. Well, after today, if we're still alive, maybe someone will change his mind or be fully convinced, you know Wish now seems to…"
"No ifs buts and maybes, I deal in absolutes. If nobody wants me, it's fine. I was only curious. What about you, though?"
"Honestly, I would have welcomed you with open arms as soon as I heard your speech after the duel with Touch Me. You remind me so much of who I once was… I'm so, so sorry the others don't realise it or just don't want to."
A sigh of relief, the depth of which could not be seen, reached Momonga's ears.
"You good, Oshikuru-dono?"
"I… yes, it's just… well, thanks a lot, but now I really must go, somebody almost chopped my head off right now. Look, if both of us are still safe and sound once this is over, would you mind if I reached out to you so we can have a chat?"
"I would love that. Thanks again for all what you're doing and don't worry. I'm sure the others will come around, it's just a matter of time. You know what, I'll force them to listen to me. Those stubborn…"
"NO! no, no, no, please don't! I could never, ever forgive myself for ruining your relationship with your friends. Don't jeopardise what you have now because of someone like me!"
"Oh… ok… well, I guess we'll talk about this later. Break a leg!"
"Hehehe, a leg, an arm, a head, I'll break many things up here!"
And he restarted focusing only on the fight, as he had not even noticed three more enemies had died to his hands since the one Momonga had counted.
Amazing! I know I'm good, but to be able to unconsciously keep on fighting against lots of strong players… and kill some of'em too while talking to another guy… I mean, I'm always talking to myself, but that's different!
Well, whatever. I need to at least kill all of these before their whole forces can reach me. I literally had them fight through hell, they must be looking forward to stick my head on a wall!
But the next head to fall belonged to a Seraphim, who exploded upon being hit by the 100 Tons Hammer suddenly appeared in Oshikuru's hands.
So, here my opponents are down to sixteen while my kills for the day, counting also those murdered by my beloved little devils, are 469. Hmm, less than two hundred more to 666, devil's number… how could Hell's King possibly give up before reaching it! And at that point I'll just log off, so there's no need to save mana… ah, right, that ship has sailed long ago. Too bad, a well aimed 10th tier or super tier spell would do wonders against a full packed army of no brainers… if only I could use another World Cut! But of course those shitty devs would allow me to use that only once an hour!
Oshikuru released Devourer's Voracity, which gave a +30% boost to all offensive stats for 30s, then accelerated towards a random enemy and let loose his rage on Rhemurus, last still standing member of the Mercenary Magicians, before anyone could properly shield him. The magic caster's defences quickly crumbled before the might of four different weapons hitting him at the same time and as a result he got disintegrated.
Fifteen left!
Leukòs, the Seraphim who could have hardly done a better job protecting the now dead guy, being already hard pressed by four of Oshikuru's demonic arms, was soon reached by his associates, determined to defeat the samurai of the dark side. He quickly moved out of there and picked a different victim, the now isolated Green Cape.
In spite of being a speedster, the guy couldn't dodge any of Oshikuru's attacks and fell down, disappearing in a wave of colourful pixels even before touching the grass below him.
Another one bites the dust. 14 left!
All of a sudden, he felt the ground shaking thanks to [Tremor Sense] being one of his many passives.
Wait, what's with all this rumble? Don't tell me…
With eyes on all sides of his head, it didn't take long for the demon samurai to spot a numerous group of human players running towards him from southeast.
The "firewall" is still on and three Evil Lords are not dead yet, how can so many pricks be here already?! What is that stupid "prince" even doing?!
Aah, shouldn't have relied too much on him, after all it's just a NPC…
But a black and green fiend suddenly flew over the incoming players, together with lots and lots of imps which swarmed the humans, slowing them down.
Oshikuru couldn't help but grimly grin. Speak of the devil!
The Evil Lord of Ambition quickly glanced at his master, then lowered his gaze and released a crimson fire spell which burned a trio of flying golems.
Is it me or did that guy seemed to be sorry just now? As if a devil could ever be…
A sevenfold slash seemingly at the speed of light ended an Olympian archer and the other closed in, enraged beyond reason. Oshikuru dodged all arrows and grabbed all of her limbs, blocking Luna Chaser. His wings started flapping fast enough to leave behind any chaser while he enjoyed giving her an unwanted ride.
Oh, will you look at that! Such defiant anger and hatred! I'm almost moved, but I had devised the way you must die a long time ago…
Being a class 15 shapeshifter, Oshikuru's face changed as soon as he wished for it and the demonic head turned to a pretty, familiar face to the female player who seemed shocked. With a girly voice, Oshikuru said: "Thank you for telling me everything about this invasion, onee-chan! you're the best! it'll fail because of you!"
Outrage and despair appeared on Luna Chaser. Perfect! this is what I wanted to see! With her sorrowful expression bringing a devious smile on the demon, he brutally detached all of her limbs and let her fall down to her demise.
Perfect, just a dozen left now.
But that dozen fled, though not far. It joined the ranks of an endless tide of enraged players closing in from all sides.
While to Oshikuru's side arrived, gravely wounded, his most powerful servant. Should I end his pain while gathering his mana? let's see… ah, not worth it, he ran out of it just like me. He failed to push back the enemy, but I didn't think there was any chance it could be done, so…
He patted Ambition on the head and, thanks to the passive [Undead Touch], the Evil Lord's injuries were soon healed.
Shall I leave or… no, I can't abandon him here to be killed after saving his life… not to mention I owe him a lot… though I could revive him later at home… wait, no, that's expensive! I already spent too much money for cash items in preparation for today!
Anyway, I still have to PK lots of people… Hold on, if they'll be bringing lots of NPCs, it might turn out to be good for me. Otherwise, no matter how strong I am, if hundreds of players start swarming me, there's not much I can do besides hit and run, or just run…
Well, for now, let's make sure they can't cast any spell against a warrior. That's against the rules!
He smiled as taking out of the inventory one of his favourite and most powerful items. It had been quite a while since he last used one of the Twenty, stolen from a now disbanded guild.
He sent a telepathic command to Ambition. Cover me!
As the demon obeyed, Oshikuru wore a pair of thick steampunk golden gloves with cogs, valves and geometric grey stone stripes. Without wasting any time, he immediately activated the World Item known as the nightmare of all magic casters, aka Mana Bane Gauntlets.
There was no need to taunt the enemy into casting spells against him: he could already see plenty of runic circles all over the place. But they were too late as Oshikuru had already started the procedure for the [Magic Eraser Shockwave]. Both gauntlets (Control Left & Control Right, though the one named left was to go on the right hand and viceversa), shot a golden energy beam. The two met about 300 m above his head, and it took place a deafening explosion whose blinding light expanded to form a dome which covered the entire Grenbera Swamps in the blink of an eye, deleting all the spells which were being cast along the way. For the next 8 minutes the whole place, with great joy for all the fans of the way of the blade, mana became absolutely inaccessible to everyone but other world item carriers. Even World Enemies, though there were none in the area, would have been affected.
This incredible ability's cooldown depends on the size of the AoE: as wide as a city or less, 8 hours, as big as a natural environment 8 days, an entire continent 8 weeks, a whole realm 8 months. If below ground too, cooldown is twice the corresponding amount of time. Oshikuru selected the Grenbera Swamps, though only above ground, unwilling to damage Nazarick's magic defenses, not to mention its denizens already mad at him.
Anyway, now he was ready to face an entire army with nobody but his only still living NPC. He quickly decided its fate.
"Go home, Ambition. You know what to do not to be followed."
The Prince of Hell's surprise couldn't be shown, just like the unwillingness to abandon his owner. It could only obey. So it mechanically bowed and said: "Yes, Master. Your will shall be done." Then it flew off, while his master dropped to the ground with a [Leap of Unfaith], which nullified fall damage, in front of Nazarick's entrance.
As a cloud of dust surrounded the man willing to play his part until the very end, only his glowing green demonic eyes could be seen.
"You guys have already crossed hell. Now, you'll have to kill its king if you want to enter the Great Tomb of Nazarick. I swore to protect its rightful rulers, the greatest guild in Yggdrasil, Ainz Ooal Gown. You won't lay a finger on them until I'm here!"
Thanks to a passive of his Bard class, the Arch Devil's voice resounded across the battlefield. But it didn't stop his rivals in the least. The many warriors already incoming rushed forward, a few flying, most running, while the casters stood still, not far from a group which the Hellking's eyes identified as the enemy strategists.
Shall I abandon the position and go claim their lives… hmmm, I don't like the idea, but allowing the twelve who fled before me to not die doesn't sound good either…
Oshikuru turned his gaze at the wave of approaching, variously armoured fighters, staring at those who advanced before the others. He spotted some faces which looked familiar, but couldn't associate any name to them.
Hoh, no way I'll let them jump on me like flies to honey… let's bring the fight to them. Yes, I'll tear through the loose lines and go all the way to the sorcerers and commanders in the rear. Without spellcasters and officers, it'll really be impossible for them to conquer Nazarick no matter how many they are!
Watch this, Ainz Ooal Gown. Witness the power of a true warlord and regret not having him in your guild!
"[Release skill: Roar of the Black Dragon]!"
With an effect a little more powerful than a Despair Aura V, it wouldn't make a player afraid as it did to a monster, but the move still reduced all enemies' stats in the AoE. After that, Oshikuru started to slowly but heavily walk forward, his footfalls making craters while activating another ability. [Silent Release skill: Harden Scale]. For 30 seconds, I'll be almost unstoppable. It should be enough.
Suddenly, his pace turned to fast and light, almost flying on the ground as his eight arms wielded blades and gauntlets which opened a straight, bloody path through the disorganised ranks of warriors, each looking for personal glory and loot. A few among them managed to see the lone wolf's leaping figure and even less could raise their weapons against him.
With sheer strength and stunning ability to match his incredible speed and indomitable will, Oshikuru activated most of the skills he had left as zigzagging across and beyond the charging enemies, killing no less than forty-one on his way.
Then, he ended up in the wizards' midst. Currently unable to fight, they were decimated by the samurai's eight arms.
But someone stepped in to stand against the seemingly unbeatable demon whose kill count had now risen to 532.
"Your time has come!"
A party of twenty-seven cunning and skilled warlords approached the King of Hell who took down four of them before getting fully encircled and repeatedly hit by so many different weapons.
"We now know how you fight! surrender and you'll have a honourable death!"
Targeted by a ceaseless barrage of gunfire and with all escape routes blocked, Oshikuru still smiled. "Sorry guys, but the game doesn't allow to commit seppoku. Besides, this is far from over!"
And he blasted the charred ground with four mighty punches before jumping into the hole he had just created.
"That'll be your grave! Fire in there!"
And not only did the snipers shot, but also the six World Item carriers intervened. Being the elite of the elite, they had been hiding until then, only buffing and healing. Now, they cast powerful spells while nobody else could.
"You're not fooling me! No getting away, you demon! [Widen Maximise Magic: Dimensional Lock]!"
"Eat this! [Triplet Maximise Magic: Astral Smite]!"
"Begone! [Focus Magic: Implosion]!"
"Payback time! [Widen Magic: Stream of Lava]!"
"I'll electrocute you. [Triplet Maximise Magic: Call Greater Thunder!]"
Once the mix of explosions destroyed a section of the ground beneath, until Nazarick's 1st floor's ceiling, they scanned the area looking for the enemy's remains.
But nothing was to be seen.
"Careful! over there!" Someone yelled as something erupted from the ground about 250 m away from the apocalyptic scene.
"Hehehe, almost got me, but I can move fast enough even underground, you assholes!"
"Then I won't allow you to move, Oshikuru! [Widen Magic: Time Stop]!"
"Oh, come on man, that's a waste of mana, do you really think he has no countermeasures against time…"
But Oshikuru instantly stopped in a weird position right when he was about to move.
"Oh, yes!"
"Uh, guess we got lucky!"
"Nah, it's probably just all his skills being gone after going to war against an army all by himself. What an idiot!"
"Well, let's not waste this chance. [Maximise Magic: Polar Claw]!"
"Aye. [Maximise Magic: Meteor Fall]!"
"[Maximise Magic: Vermilion Nova]!"
"Take this: [Maximise Magic: Mist of Super Acid]!"
"[Triplet Maximise Magic: Reality Slash]. Now, Fucking die!"
And while their target could not possibly move, it was frozen, cut, blasted, poisoned and burned by high tier magic. The explosions left behind nothing but a fuming crater and the attackers cheered.
"Where's the signature death cloth sack though?" Asked a bident holder, last survivor of the Olympian Hit Squad.
"Yours is right on its way!"
Breaking the effect of Oshikuru's Perfect Unknowable ring, a salvage of magic bullets appeared out of nowhere, hitting precisely the elite squad of World Item carriers. Upon impact, the first projectile released the magic seal of an 8th tier [Dimensional Lock], preventing any attempt to teleport away. Then it arrived eight more bullets which contained seals of damage-dealing high tier spells. The bright explosions of two [Napalm] and an [Astral Smite] shrouded the effects of two [Call Greater Thunder], a [Reality Slash] and two [True Death].
Immediately afterwards Oshikuru cheerfully charged in with a weapon in each hand to make sure all the targets were dead. He helped the few who weren't to reach that status and stole the dropped World Items.
"How is that even possible?!" yelled an open mouthed level 100 ranger who had failed to notice the demon samurai's last trick. He had used his daily skill [High Tier Fiend Summon] while escaping underground and it had appeared an Evil Lord which he then turned into a perfect copy of himself thanks to being a level 15 Shapeshifter. And the enemy had taken the bait.
But the opposing warlords didn't waste any time being shocked and ran at the Oshikuru who now wore the Oni Gusoku.
544. I hoped to be closer to 600… but if all goes as planned, it'll be fine. I just need to have a close-to-perfect timing…
Let's taunt them a little. "Hahahaha! You'll never catch me, noobs!" And he wildly laughed.
Still, now I really have almost nothing left. No more wish-upon-a-star, since I already used the last slot to prevent anyone from casting Armageddon-Good. All slots for Greater Teleportation and Perfect Unknowable are now empty, the TOTGUSS' has just run out of ammo and my World Champion armour's skills are depleted so I had to change it for the time being. Out of all my racial and job classes I only have two actives left, besides the ones I'll be using as last resort if it oh-so-luckily comes to it. And all actives on my weapons are down too… no, wait, I still got something from the King Kong Gauntlets.
Let's use these then.
And he flew at the incoming seventeen enemy commanders.
"[Monkey God's Body Slam]!"
The divine-class gauntlets grabbed a sneaky assassin ignoring his anti-physical contact countermeasures, rearing the unlucky human overhead and powerfully slamming him against the ground; it was enough to finish the player, but he had a revival item and soon rejoined the fight, though being much more cautious, after having felt on his skin Oshikuru's might.
The demonic being silently activated [King Kong Bone Crunch] and his gauntlets enclosed a lightly armoured ranger, squeezing until the poor guy got splattered. A cloth sack fell on the ground marking his final breath.
After dodging most of the enemy attacks, Oshikuru spoke again. "King Kong Hold & Tear!" One gauntlet grabbed the right leg of a shining white paladin already beaten down, while the other gauntlet held the left leg. Both gauntlets immediately started pulling and ripped apart the rival's body, which disappeared in the usual wave of colourful pixels. A crimson knight moved in to avenge his companion, but Oshikuru brilliantly disarmed him before silently activating [King Kong Club]. Both gauntlets took the knight's arms before wielding the heavily armoured player as a mace to attack his associates. It was fun until one of them accidentally killed the poor guy.
A druid activated a rare manaless skill, creating a little wood in the area. Soon afterwards, countless branches, leaves, roots and vines twirled against the cursed samurai, but he laughed and ignored all that. Indeed, no matter how close those attacks came to his body, they never managed to touch him because of the King Kong Gauntlets' passive [Forestwalk]. Satisfied but not enough, Oshikuru activated [Free Climbing] and his enhanced gauntlets started climbing on and among the trees with absolute perfection, while the other six arms fought against the group of enemies, killing three of the slowest ones.
While he enjoyed impersonating Tarzan, the angry humans cut off all tree trunks to force him to come back down. He did, and while doing so Oshikuru activated [Monkey God's War Declaration]. Empowered by that skill, both King Kong Gauntlets hit the ground at the same time, unleashing a little earthquake and a Despair Aura level V which slowed down and debuffed the enemies.
They were soon attacked by the samurai who silently activated also [Monkey God's Wild Revenge]: for 30 seconds he got a -50% debuff in Mag. Def. and Phy. Def., but gained a +100% buff to Speed and Phy. Atk. stats, becoming so fast and strong he seemed into an almost invisible war machine. His closest opponents could do nothing but be punched, slashed and kicked to death. After that, only four of the Eight Guilds Alliance warlords were still alive, thanks to being distant enough to flee the wood now turned into a graveyard.
Oshikuru chased after them, though watching out for possible traps. Indeed he would have fallen into one as suddenly the ground beneath turned into a large pond, but he was still wearing the Tidal Gauntlets and enjoyed its passive which let him walk on water as if it was solid. Still, he had to defend himself from the Primal Water Elemental which rose from the lake. The samurai wished to activate [Monkey God's Wrath] to punch his way forward, but he had too recently used it to fastly escape underground, and also the Cane Sword's freezing skill had not yet reloaded. So Oshikuru was forced to raise his blades and cut the Elemental to pieces until it dropped dead.
In the meantime the opposing forces quickly reorganised. Two of the enemy commanders joined the many human players who had entered the Grand Tomb, while the other two stayed behind with about a hundred magic casters and two dozens of powerful warriors, ready to bring an end to Oshikuru.
Hmm, I'm at 577. Yes, there's more than enough to reach 666. Although I'll probably die sooner unless most of the wizards summon some monsters, but I can't possibly count on it. 99% of all casters prefer to deal damage themselves rather than through their own summons, unless they absolutely need a tank. I guess I won't be using the Monkey God's Aura then. At least nobody will know it has the power to take control of all living creatures (so no undead AN) up to level 80 included. Same goes for my Arch Devil's Command Mantra that can order around all monsters up to level 60 and the Special Ability [Join me in the Dark Side] which has a 50% chance to convince negative karma monsters of the highest tier to follow my lead… , I'll keep it all secret together with my actual greatest power.
Anyway, how long 'till Mana Bane's effect comes to an end now?
He stared at the timer up in the left corner. It showed 02:46.
Ok, let's do this then.
The demon samurai put away all weapons but took one he still hadn't used: the Weathergirl Stick, a short, blue staff with white spiralling lines and a yellow round knob on each side. He used the active [Control Weather] skill and a lot of white clouds gathered right above him, perfectly forming a shape through which passed powerful sunrays which kissed the demonic black skin as the God Effect took place, with Oshikuru's wings flapping to make him soar too.
"I am the King of Hell! Grovel at my feet, human weaklings!"
A wave of armoured players loudly advanced. "We'll cut you to pieces, crazy piece of shit!"
Oshikuru answered with another skill, [Control Cloud], which unleashed a powerful hailstorm that slowed down the incoming enemies. Then his staff grew bigger, until it was 150 m long. Though it wasn't specifically built to be deal physical damage, in his strong eight hands the stick quickly swiped the battlefield like a dragontail, knocking away most of the incoming enemies. But not two winged players who swiftly dodged it and approached the demon to kill him.
But he activated two additional skills of the Weathergirl Stick. A [Call Greater Thunder] and a [Chain Dragon Lightning] dropped from the sky electrocuting both attackers. One died, and the other would quickly follow.
After abandoning the staff, Oshikuru activated the racial skill [Aspect of the Devil: Razor Sharp Claw] and his fingerclaws got sharper as also stretching beyond 1 m in length. Those slashed the already weakened angelic player who cursed as he died in-game.
The winged demon flew among the fighters, injuring but also getting injured by lots of opponents. "He's getting weaker! Let's finish him!"
But Oshikuru kept going forward, now headed to the spellcasters. This time his actions had been foreseen: fifty more fighters hidden below the ground jumped out to stop and possibly kill the foul beast.
It did seem too easy. Never mind, I'll still make it. These fools can't stop me! Thanks to his unmatched speed, the Arch Devil dodged the heaviest blows, while allowing many weapons to scratch his already damaged armour.
This way he made it through the "shield wall" and launched himself among the spellcasters' ranks with his hands now wielding all of his weapons. Oshikuru activated the [Monkey God's silent Call to Arms], summoning a pack of 25 level 25 gorillas around himself. Together with them, he started decimating the wizards, although those low-level monsters seemed unable to exterminate high-level players and were mostly ignored. Still, in a few seconds Mana Bane's great gilded dome would disappear and many casters who had been waiting for that already knew which powerful spells to unleash on the dangerous, annoying adversary.
But his tricks weren't over. The Oni Gusoku was battered, but from it departed a wave of darkness when Oshikuru yelled: "Oni Allegiance!"
And all those who had touched the Legendary Class armour got stunned. With most of the fighters now blocked, Oshikuru activated the [Monkey God's loud Chest Banging]. As the gauntlets gave a 250% bonus to all stats for 25 seconds to the now threatening gorillas, the samurai flew back to kill the temporarily stuck warriors. The stun only lasted 17 seconds and after that it would really be over for Oshikuru, but he had his own goal. And as the 666th victim of the demon samurai fell, he abandoned all ideas to make one last stand and flew to a safe spot, from where he looked at the enemies below him and shouted:
"The Grim Reaper's harvest is concluded. Rejoice, you who still live! But don't forget me, for I am Death and I'll come back for each of you!"
I just hope Nazarick doesn't fall, though. But I trust Ainz Ooal Gown.
As mana returned to the area and runic circles started forming everywhere, he darkly smiled and completely disappeared.
"Shit! He logged off!"
"Can you believe this coward?!"
"Huh, to leave in the middle of a fight. Has he no shame?!"
The outrageous act would never be forgiven by his adversaries, but Oshikuru and another person a few hundred meters below, standing by a Mirror of Remote Viewing in the Throne Room of the Great Tomb, obviously wouldn't care.
"Hahaha, good job, my friend! Now, it's my turn to kill the scum who dares to invade Nazarick!"