"My gosh!" Dantallion said. "He said it! He really said it! That means he's about to Overlord all over the place!"
"Wait- what? What does that mean?" Neia asked. She had no idea how to process the events that had just happened- the Queen was a zombie, Remedios died and came back (and was confessing her love like a schoolgirl), and the words "Overlordin' Time" made no sense to her. It was like Remedios had said earlier- it was as if she had woken up in some bizarro world where nothing made sense.
Ainz didn't sense the enemy until they were at the door, though he supposed it was only to be expected that they would have wards against undead divination.
Now that Ainz saw him, he had to say that the description of him were spot-on. Two heads (did that mean that he was twice as smart? Did both of his heads think- and did they have separate consciousnesses like Siamese twins?) gazed at him, though oddly, it seemed that only one was actually moving. The other head did not change its expression at all- which seemed to imply that only one of them worked.
Immediately, the Night Lich triggered the sealed magic near the doorway and was inundated with magic arrows, and although they did damage, at the levels at which Ainz and it were fighting, it was like trying to damage a bear with toothpicks.
Not that Ainz expected it to do much anyway. "[Anti-Life Gungnir]!" A huge explosion of purplish miasma came from the Death Emperor, which then took the form of a lance that flew at Ainz. It was a very flashy spell and illuminated the room with a bright purple incandescence- though once it was hit him Ainz felt... nothing?
The attack seemed to have no effects on either his stats or health- so it hadn't done any damage or debuffed him in any way. He had never heard of such a spell back in Yggdrasil, so he would need to keep in mind that it might have some other kind of effect that didn't exist in the game.
As it was the spell did damage with negative energy (which Ainz was immune to as an undead and would actually have healed him had he not already been at full health) and piercing-type damage which Ainz was also immune to being an Overlord. Ainz did not know these facts, however, and the Death Emperor was quite shocked when it realized that one of its most powerful spells had done nothing to Ainz.
Ainz had his own opening move though- "[Lopsided Duel]!" This would ensure that any escape attempt based on teleportation by the Death Emperor would drag Ainz along with it, though it only worked one way and it wouldn't be dragged along with Ainz if Ainz chose to flee via teleportation. The downside was that if his enemy teleported near its allies, Ainz would be in trouble- though if his enemy had allies that could reasonably take Ainz on, Ainz was sure that he would have brought them with him. After all, his Cerberus had been hurt, but not slain- so the enemy had some idea of how strong Ainz was. And his enemy was not strong enough to kill his summon even when his summon was not fully engaged in fighting.
Still, given how high a level his opponent likely was, Ainz did not bother with trying to use Time-effecting magic at all.
"[Grasp Heart]!" the Death Emperor then called out, attempting to cast it upon Ainz.
"You dare use my own spell against me?!" Ainz retorted. Then again, it was understandable- even if one was immune to its Instant Death effect, they would be stunned, giving one time to flee from an unknown enemy if needed. Ainz might've done the same if their roles were reversed- but Ainz was an undead, something the Death Emperor had likely not realized till now, and was immune to both effects of that spell.
Still, Ainz was mildly annoyed at having his 'signature move' being used against him. Ainz retaliated- "[Triplet Maximize Magic: Vermillion Nova]!" The spell encased the Death Emperor in ethereal flames. What surprised Ainz was the amount of damage this did. He could use [Life Essence] as well as [Mana Essence]- his enemy's mana pool was larger than any he had seen before in the New World, but slightly lower than Shalltear's would have been and much lower than his own. His base health was rather low though- he was most definitely not a tank-type player and was likely not a warrior either.
If his enemy was really level ninety- he wouldn't have expected that attack to more than ten or twenty percent at most based on the enemy's Mag Def if they were indeed a dedicated spellweaver like he was - but it did a whopping sixty percent damage! Was his enemy using [False Data: Life] just like Ainz was? It was not completely out of the question.
The Death Emperor changed tactics. "[Summon Undead Tenth]!" The shadow of a Doom Lord appeared, but Ainz wasn't going to let that happen.
"[Greater Rejection]!" he chanted. The shadow of the Doom Lord disappeared- there had to be quite a difference in stats for Ainz's rejection spell to completely negate his enemy's summon. Of course, the Death Emperor would not regain the mana it had expended to summon this creature even if the summoning was rejected.
Ainz followed this up with one of his own spells, "[Summon Monster Tenth]!" His summoning was not negated- either his opponent didn't know the spell or the gap in levels was enough that the enemy's negation would fail.
He brought out a Fairy Koala King- it looked just as described as a giant koala, though a shade of bright pink with tiny wings that were far too small to let it fly and yet somehow did (much like a bumblebee's). It was designed as a magical tank, though it was also capable of using Holy spells- and so Ainz brought it out to add variance to his DPS. An additional benefit was that it shielded the others from spells given its massive bulk. It sent a [Holy Lance] at the enemy, and this attack did do ten percent of the Death Emperor's health in damage- it seemed that this monster and the Death Emperor were similar in levels.
The Death Emperor couldn't believe what was happening. He had never before faced an enemy of such power. And he was losing- badly. In this scenario, there was only one thing left to do: retreat. "[Greater Teleportation]!"
Relief washed over him as his surroundings faded away- he had been scared that this enemy would have a way to intercept or block teleportation, but thank the gods that tha-
"-[Maximize Magic: Reality Slash]!"
The Death Emperor felt a wave of intense pain move through him. Pain like he had never felt before engulfed him, and had he not been an undead the unbearable pain alone might've crippled him. No, his teleportation had not been blocked, but this thing had followed him through it somehow. He had teleported to a hideout of his- a cave where he had some treasure he intended to collect before fleeing, but it looked like running away was an impossibility.
The Death Emperor had never encountered a skill or spell that linked one to an enemy's teleportation- the Dragon Lords including That One could block off teleportation magic, but to follow your enemy through teleportation- he had never seen a spell or skill like this before.
Who was this opponent? If this country had had a magic caster of this level, why hadn't they brought him out before? It was clear that the Death Emperor was hopelessly outmatched.
"Hmph. You are impressive- I'll give you that," the enemy said. "You made me use five percent of my power."
Five percent!? The Death Emperor was barely hanging on by a thread here- and then he realized something. That enemy Death Knight- it had to have belonged to this masked foe!
"Wait!" he cried out.
This enemy was strong- stronger than anything he had seen before. His prayers that someone would eventually appear that could take down That One were answered! If all of Corpus of the Abyss and this caster were to turn against That One, they might have a real chance of victory.
Even if he had to give up the World Item, it was an acceptable price if it would let him take down That One. He had come to this country expecting to find a World Item, but had instead found someone who could go toe-to-toe with That One.
It was like losing a copper coin and finding a mountain of gold instead.
Only, he had made a fatal error by unknowingly antagonizing this person.
"There is someone- there is something that I want you to help me kill, and in return I will offer you-"
"The only one dying," it answered, its voice as cold and merciless as the north wind, "is you." Its voice made it clear that there was no room for negotiation in the matter, and it chilled even an undead like the Death Emperor to the very bone.
This enemy spoke those words with absolute finality- as if it was the manifestation of Death itself. And there was no room for bargaining when Death itself decreed that your time had come.
No! He wouldn't accept that outcome! He had come to this country solely to find a way of countering That One, and he had stumbled on something even better than that World Item. He just needed to find a way to convince this caster to fight against That One-
"-[Triplet Maximize Magic: Vermillion Nova]!"
In a last desperate but ultimately futile attempt, the Death Emperor retaliated with [Triplet Maximize Magic: Cacophonous Blast] as he felt the enemy spell engulf him in flames.
The last thing he was aware of before he was sent to oblivion was the sound of laughter- it came from his second head.
With that, the false Death Emperor was reduced to a cinder- though Ainz was still ever-vigilant for any further attacks. After five minutes, he teleported back to the inner sanctum after he summoned a Death Knight to guard the remnants of the false Emperor's ashes. He had left the Fairy Koala King in case the Death Emperor had any other tricks up its sleeve, but it had been unnecessary and he dismissed the summon.
"Ah, he's defeated, I won!" he said to the gathered group, only for all of them to give him fearful looks.
Ainz had been elated before, but now he was confused. Why did they look at him so?
"-what happened to your face, Ainz?" Neia asked.
It was then that Ainz realized what he had missed- that last spell had broken his mask! This was not entirely unexpected as the Mask of Envy was a simple mask with no enchantments to it- but Ainz had been quite careless as he had other things that could've hidden his face. Ainz's shoulders sagged- but he supposed if there was a time to tell the truth, this was it. "Ah, this is what I wanted to tell you earlier Remedios... I am an undead."
"That fiend turned you into one!?" Remedios asked, enraged.
"No, I have always been like this," Ainz said. "That face you saw earlier was an illusion. I've used magic to trick the priests from detecting my undead nature via magical means."
"Even when we-"
"-yes, even when we first met." Ainz said. "I was always so."
Ainz had been expecting some kind of negative reaction (not the kind that healed undead), but the fact that Remedios chucked her helmet at him full speed, which bounced off him harmlessly, still stung him from the shock of the action.
Remedios began hurling insults at him. Neia seemed too shocked to say anything, but Remedios was loud and clear with what she thought. "How could you!? You monster, you fiend, you-"
As she continued on chanting profanities, Ainz's mind was reeling. Then again, what had he expected?
That he, a literal skeleton, could get with a human woman, let alone a paladin, one who hated the undead with a passion that rivalled a thousand suns? What, had that talk from the Zern prince gone to his head and made him think that love between two species was possible? Of course, this was bound to happen sooner or later.
And yet, there were words he could not let go of in his heart.
"But... what about what you said earlier?" Ainz asked. "You said that you loved-"
"AS IF ANYONE COULD LOVE A MONSTER LIKE YOU!" Remedios screamed, her face flushed with anger. "I HATE YOU!"
Her words pierced deeper than the sharpest blade could and did far more damage to him than her throwing the helmet at him earlier.
After listening to those words, Ainz's heart turned to ice. He turned around and in a frosty voice laced with neither love nor generosity, said, "Then I'll be taking my reward from among the items in the treasury for saving your country, and then I will depart, never to return to this land." He then used [Greater Teleportation] and disappeared.
